


Transcend

by beforethedawn, ConstructFairytales, Destinyawakened



Category: Hannibal (TV), Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Anal, Engineering, Jedi, Kyber Crystals, M/M, Rebels, Science, Sex, Smut, Star Ships, Star Wars Universe, The Death Star, Will is Obi-Wan Kenobi's son in this AU, star fighters, the empire, the resistance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-21
Updated: 2017-06-09
Packaged: 2018-09-19 02:24:14
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 26,792
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9413696
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/beforethedawn/pseuds/beforethedawn, https://archiveofourown.org/users/ConstructFairytales/pseuds/ConstructFairytales, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Destinyawakened/pseuds/Destinyawakened
Summary: Galen Erso gains a new engineer, a oddly confident sort of young man who seems to have the ability to see right through him and the Empire. With Will's help, Galen is able to finally get his project to destroy the Death Star under way. What he doesn't expect is find the young man's company addictive.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> 1) Not beta'd. Edited by us  
> 2) We have tweaked up Galen's backstory just a little bit, mostly with how long he's known Krennic, when he met Lyra, etc. It's AU, so.  
> 3) Will is much more assertive here than the show. We chalk this up to being raised by his mother instead, the universe he lives in, and how he was raised.

 

Born to a what most assumed was an average woman, William Graham grew up without a father. He was told by his mother that his father was a great warrior, a general for the Republic, someone the council relied on heavily, and for that, Will would never get to know him. As he grew older, his mother told him more and more of his father, that the sort of warrior he was now was not the sort who could have a family, as it was looked down upon, that she had known him before he’d decided to take his oaths seriously.

Will was bright and gifted, like his father, but because his mother needed him-- to keep his heritage and birth hidden-- she never let the boy attend the Jedi Academy, the risks were always too high. So, he practiced, read holos and taught himself the basics, it wasn’t difficult and Will caught on quickly. That said, he also caught on to who his father was from just the stories his mother told and a little research. However, by the time he’d mustered up the nerve to approach the Jedi Master, everything had gone sideways for the Republic, and the Jedi were being slaughtered by his father’s own apprentice, Anakin Skywalker.

It was dark days for the government and the Jedi, and Will more than ever was hidden away by his mother, until the day that she died, and Will was left on his own to figure it all out. So, he did what he could, he read people easily with his empathy disorder, and used the Force to pick pockets, and get out of sticky situations. He could fix ships and crafts, easy enough, and was soon picked up by the Empire to work on shuttle runs, and from there, Will worked his way through the ranks of underlings to eventually finding himself plopped down in a Kyber crystal mining facility. He was shipped off every so often to other parts, helping to build machines and weapons of different sorts, able to look into the parts of droid or computer system without even having to open it up.

It was when he was seen by Orson Krennic for his superb knowledge of machinery, that he was pushed into job he quickly found he didn’t want to be part of. Some sort of large space station, massive and huge, with the ability to destroy planets. It was top secret, but given Will was to be working with the the top scientist who designed it, he was given a read out of the blueprints to see what he made of it.

First year working there he didn’t work with Galen Erso personally, but got to know of him through holos and messages that were sent, but never in person. Finally, they transferred him to Eadu where work was being done secretly, where he’d finally see Erso in person.

Will was flown to Eadu by an Imperial pilot named Bodhi Rook, who let off mixed signals with his alliance, but Will said nothing in their journey, and only thanked them when they got there. Someone to watch carefully.

Erso was a respected man. Even Krennic knew that Galen Erso had a mind capable of creating what no one else could: destruction far beyond the dreams of any military in the galaxy to date.    
  
Erso was quiet, and polite, with a habit of isolating himself, except when he was required to interface with engineers. He spent any time he was not working alone, in his quarters, and while he was liked, generally, did not seem to have any friends. Galen exuded an aura of a brilliant man resigned to his fate. He worked and slept, nothing else.    
  
On his way from his quarters to the top secret work space in which he and the engineers planned and rehearsed the various functions of the weapon that was the size of a small planet, Erso passed by the arrivals platform for a brief glimpse of the outdoors, and a lungful of fresh, unfiltered air.    
  
It was hard to believe he once had all of the fresh air a man could ever want. He couldn’t think of that, not now.    
  
The wind picked up, and caught the edge of the folder Erso carried, blowing one of the very thin discs within it to the platform floor. Galen frowned and moved after it, when the wind picked up again, vexing him. 

From behind Erso, Will ran up next to him and then passed, faster than the older man could go, maybe faster than anyone should be able to, and caught the flimsy disc in his hand, sweeping it off the rainy walkway, carefully. He paused, waiting for the engineer to approach and then handed it back to him.

Galen was never surprised to see young men recruited by the Empire. Most of them seemed happy enough to serve in exchange for a secure place in their ranks, sadly. “Thank you, it seems the wind is playing tricks with me today,” Galen said, graciously, and tucked the disc back in it’s folder after inspecting it. 

Reaching out with the Force, Will used it to feel out the other man, quietly and quickly. “You’re Galen Erso, aren’t you?” He offered his hand. “I was just transferred here to help you. I’m Will Graham.”

“You’re not dressed quite like an engineer,” Erso said, a little guardedly, but politely as he shook the young man’s hand. His eyes were a remarkable shade of blue and green in this light, and reminded Galen of his old farm … and everything he’d lost there.

“Oh,” Will took his hand back, “I… didn’t know you had strict policies on that here. I was never seen much before. Always down in the maintenance room. I’ll be sure to get a uniform, sir.”

“I’m hardly concerned with what you wear, but we are subjected to a daily inspection,” Galen said, under his breath. “I expect you’re coming to the schematics lab, I can walk you there, if you’d like.”

“Should I get a uniform first. Krennic didn’t say anything…” Will sighed, not really worried about it, but he liked to give off the air that he was not the sort to cause too much trouble.

“That might be wise. First, I’ll show you where we will be working. You’ll need a badge for security clearance, of course, I assume they’ll supply that with the uniform. Where are you coming from, Mr. Graham?” Galen asked, politely, but without more than professional interest.

“Jedha, near the mines, for a while. Coruscant before that,” Will explained, hands behind his back, clasped together as they walked. The pilot had just dropped him here and went on his way, Erso was Will’s first contact here, thankfully.

“Jedha? I’m sure that was exciting,” Galen said, neutrally, and took another glance at Will as they walked into an elevator, and the doors closed.

“Worked most of the time. I guess that's what happens when you're recruited,” Will shrugged, gently prodding at the other man mentally, trying to get a better read. All the stories of Erso had been good ones, nothing like a man who would work for the Empire to make a super weapons.

“Happens to the best of us,” Erso joked, dryly as the doors to their elevator opened, and they were greeted with four stormtroopers in full armor who stood guard. Galen stepped out, with Will, and one of the troopers held up his hand toward Will.    
  
“Stop right there, you don’t have clearance,” he said.   
  
Galen sighed, “he’s going to work with us, our newest engineer. I thought I’d show him where to return after he is issued his things,” he explained, and the trooper seemed to stand down.    
  
“I’ll take him for that,” the trooper said, and motioned for Will to get back in the elevator.

Will had his hands raised, showing he was unarmed. “You don't need to take me yet,” Will assured the trooper, suggesting heavily.

The trooper paused, hesitating a moment, “We’ll show you at the end of the day …” he said, in a flat voice, to the surprise of the other troopers, and Erso, who raised an eyebrow.

Will gestured for Erso to keep going. Storm troopers were easily influenced, any other officer and he wouldn't have attempted it. “Shall we continue?” the younger man asked.

“Of course,” Erso said, and pressed his hand against a sensor in the door to open it. The door opened with a soft hiss, and Erso waited before stepping through with Will, into a sleek, very large laboratory filled with holograms that were being examined by the other engineers: a group of elderly men. “As you can see, you are by  _ far _ the youngest member of our team,” he said, under his breath.

Will was suddenly surrounded by men more than double his age, and they all looked at him like he was the one intruding on their grounds. Will swallowed and offed Erso a nervous smile. “But very experienced, I’m sure.”

Galen stepped forward, and beckoned the other engineers closer. They stopped their work, and came, slowly. “We have a new engineer. This is Will Graham. He’s come to us from Jedha, and Coruscant. I’ll be showing him around, today.” The engineers looked Will over, skeptically, and went back to their benches, without introducing themselves.    
  
Galen sighed, and spoke to Will under his breath, again, “they are a little set in their ways, they’ll accept you soon enough. You and I will be working in the master room,” he said, and gestured to a room encased in glass with bright red holographic schematics suspended in the air. 

Will wasn’t sure what the other people did if it was to be him and Erso in the master room, likely doing all the harder work. He followed the other man, taking in everything around him, and so far, no sense of danger. “Those are some amazing schematics…” he said quietly, stepping closer to the glass to look through it at the plans to what he could only assume was part of the super weapon.

“Thank you, our project is so large that we have to put different parts of it in different areas of the lab, simply to keep the scale of the thing organized,” he said, and touched a part of the hologram to replace it with another. “That was just the exhaust port, I thought perhaps you and I could look at the configuration of the core. What was your specialty, before?”

“General mechanics.” Will talked himself down, but truth was he wouldn't be here if Krennic hadn't seen something in him, and Will knew Erso would think the same. “I've got a knack for the robots and computers.”

Erso nodded, well aware that everyone else on this project were among the most brilliant and experienced in the galaxy. “I admire your modesty,” he said with a hint of a smile. It had been a long, long time since he’d managed that much of a smile, for anything. Even his happiest memories of his family were sad reminders now. “Lieutenant Commander Krennic is hardly prone to sending new teammates our way. He must have been impressed.”

Having no real schooling being him, Will couldn’t say he was accredited in anyway, so he shrugged, even more modestly, still gazing over the plans, though in pieces, still very interesting. He did note something interesting with the exhaust port, but said nothing about it. “I rewired one of the Imperial ships in a docking bay in under five minutes. He would have thrown me into a cell if he wasn’t so impressed.”

Galen laughed at that, which was a very strange sound to his own ears, and looked at Will. “Were you attempting to steal it?” Galen asked, softly, just between them.

Will chuckled, a grin spreading across his youthful features. “I was. I really wanted off Coruscant.”

Galen had to laugh again at that, softly, and gave Will another look, more thoughtfully, this time. “Indulge me, if you wanted to steal our rather massive weapon … how would you manage?”

“The weapon itself, or the blueprints?” Will asked, brow raised toward Erso, amused. 

“The weapon,” Erso said with a little smile, looking up at the plans, “no one better to make certain it’s unstealable than a skilled thief, after all…” he said, quietly, but with a little amusement in his voice.

“I guess the question is: do I want to hijack it or destroy it? If I want to destroy it, you’ve left it wide open,” Will explained, looking over at Erso, but didn’t point out the spot, he had a feeling Erso knew. “Now, if I planned to hijack it, that might be tricky. Lots of personnel to account for, but if I could get to the main data bases and override the system, rewire them to one main port, I could easily take control and do as I wish… until they found me.”

Galen looked over at Will, caught off guard, and looked back at the plans, then at Will. “Hopefully no one is quite as perceptive as you are,” he said. Admitting that he knew of a weakness was … dangerous. Will seemed unlike the others, but Galen could only guess at how much. 

“Clearly they aren’t, but they trust you, don’t they?” Will asked, quieter now, just in case. “Trust is a stupid thing to have in anyone, but the Empire is easy for it, desperate for the upper hand.”

“Most wouldn’t say the Empire is desperate,” Galen said, and began to look at the schematics again as they spoke, far more comfortable in his work than he was talking about something like this. Yet, Will seemed to see people in a way that he did not, or could not. “What brings you to that conclusion?”

“What sort of government makes a super weapon capable of destroying whole cities and planets?” Will queried, canting his head at the scientist. “One that is afraid of losing. Desperate to keep a hold of their iron fist over the galaxy. Hard won and yet slipping through their fingers.”

Galen looked at the door to their soundproof room, then back at Will. The red glow from the schematics lit their features, and he hesitated. This could be a test, after all. Lyra would have warned him that Will might have been sent to see if he had really been loyal… “Those are some very inflammatory words, should the wrong person hear you,” Galen cautioned, softly.

Will watched the other man grow wary of him, and as well he should. Erso didn’t have the advantage Will did with the Force. “ _ Is _ the wrong person hearing me?”

Galen looked at Will again, and hesitated. “I’m not the sort of man who enjoys making trouble, for anyone,” he said, starting to pace slowly while he looked at Will. “Trust is harder to come by than kyber crystals, these days.”

“Only because the Empire has them all,” Will said, well meaning in both senses of what they were talking about: trust and crystals.

“The Empire has all of the crystals, that’s certain,” Galen said, and stepped closer. “But, I’m not sure they have any trust at all, not even for their own employees. I would not be surprised if everyone were under surveillance, especially in the most sensitive departments.”

Will did a quick look around, searching out anything that might be a device listening in on them, and shook his head. He went to the controls on the wall, and started to work his way into the system, able to if someone was listening or not. In that moment, no. “Just watching. But you’re used to that, you keep your movements fluid and busy.”

“I usually work alone,” Galen pointed out, as he did just that, used to being watched. “Not with an engineer… Scientists are known for a touch of madness, but talking to myself for the benefit of their eavesdropping is a little extreme…”

“Were you told I was coming?” Will asked, shutting the system down when he saw it start to boot on the other side, the audio now on in the room. He gave Erso a knowing look at the change of subject.f

“Not at all,” Galen said, and picked up on Will’s sudden change, then returned to a business-like tone. “Do you know anyone stationed here?” he asked, conversationally, and wondered how in the world Will knew when to change subjects, abruptly.

Will gestured to the computer with a little shrug, and walked away from it. He’d explain later if possible. “No. All I saw were old men.” He had a thought, an odd, one, but he was sure it would flicker something between them. “I didn’t even know my own father.”

At that, Galen’s expression became closed, and his eyes distant. “Was he taken?” he asked, and pressed at the controls with a little more tension.

“No,” Will said cryptically, “he just disappeared. My mother never let me know him. Said it was forbidden.” Will moved around and stood next to Erso, touching one of the buttons, and in the process skimming his fingers with his own.

It felt as though an electric charge passed through Will’s fingers to Galen’s, and he paused in his motion, breath held a moment, then touched another button to rotate the schematics they looked at. He hadn’t felt that since Lyra … or … even really, with Lyra, not like that. Galen had never been a man ruled by his passions. Had he never met his wife, who had taken the initiative to pursue  _ him _ , he would likely have lived a monastic life, his work, and nothing else. “Forbidden to see your father? Did you ever learn why?” he asked, not daring to make eye contact with Will. Galen’s intricate, ingenious mental structures were shaken by the charge of a mere touch.

Will was struck dumb a moment, having to recall the subject, and why saying anything wasn’t something he ever did. “Uh, he’s… well he was…”  _ Get it together, Graham. _ “Religious reasons.”

Galen’s mind grasped that, and recalled Will mentioning Jedha. “I see,” he said, vaguely, and gave him a sympathetic look. “Are you … religious at all?” Galen asked, double meaning saturating his question after what he’d seen Will manage with the storm trooper outside. Will was anything but ordinary.

“My mother raised me to believe that anything is possible,” the Force sensitive brunet said, reaching over Erso to touch something else, hiding away the port that would destroy the giant planet killer. 

Galen felt something like a tingle come over his body as Will leaned closer, and had to stop himself from staring outright at him. “The universe is full of miraculous things, even if it has become a … darker place,” he said, and wondered if he were looking at a Jedi. He’d never met a Jedi before. Hope filled him, rushing like water over a broken dam, into a desert, and he swallowed hard, over a suddenly dry throat.

“It’s just… shadowed.” Will sighed, pressing his lips together once, his attention on the schematics in front of them, trying to ignore the rush of blood in his ears, the way it felt to touch Erso-- _ Galen _ . Will chanced a side glance up at the older man. “We’re going to do good things here.”

Galen took a deep breath, and licked his lips as he looked away from Will, and back up at the schematics. He felt more alive just standing next to Will than he had in decades, like he’d been sleeping all these years, and just opened his eyes now. “I think we might be able to make some meaningful progress, yes,” Galen agreed. “At this point, it’s important to discuss any possible flaws in the design with the right parties,” he hinted, sure that if Will was what Galen thought he was … Will would understand, he’d feel it.

Sometimes Will found the universe was speaking to him in subtle ways, and sometimes the universe was screaming at him; now was one of those times. “I agree,” the brunet said, with careful ease, bringing up a part of the schematic, near the exhaust port. “This might be too narrow. Just a tiny bit bigger, we wouldn’t want exhaust to get… backed up.”

Galen swallowed, and did his best not to smile as he examined the port with Will. “That is precisely why I decided to forgo extra shielding. It’s so narrow as it is, narrowing it even more might cause it to backflow into the system. Perhaps we could …” Galen enlarged the port on the schematics and altered it’s diameter with a precise movement of his fingers. “I wouldn’t want it to be too wide, of course, there may be objections raised to that. But this seems reasonable…”   
  
He looked at Will as he bit the inside of his cheek. He’d been speaking for years, but this was the first time Galen felt  _ understood _ , since the day Lyra died. 

“I’m sure it’s an easy fix for the already being built station, isn’t it?” Will asked, curiously. “They would need to remove a little bit of metal, that’s it.”

Galen contemplated the design, thoughtfully, well aware that making it just a hair wider would allow for an easier target. “We’d only lose a little space in a few holding cells, storage … nothing vital.”

“It’s huge as it is, nothing they won’t miss,” Will said, shrugging his shoulders. “It’s still operational, just less likely to combust on itself now.”

“A very good point,” Galen said with a little smile in his eyes that now had flecks of gold in them, light in the darkness that had not been there in years, “you may have saved the day, Will. Where did you learn so much about mechanics?” Galen asked, as he made the alterations to the design, and sent them off to the work crew.

“Lots of reading, lots of holos.” Will lowered his tone a little, leaning in closer, “I don’t have any real credentials to be here. I didn’t go to school for this. I just…  _ know _ it.”

Galen stared, stunned by Will’s admission. “If anyone knew …” he whispered back, and tried to make it look to anyone watching like he was focusing on the schematics behind Will, hands clasped behind his back to stop himself from touching his chest just to feel that spark again.

“I could be killed, or put into prison, surely,” Will whispered, smiling at Galen. “On the other hand, they never asked.”

“There is a fine, fine line between bravery and idiocy,” Galen whispered, and touched Will’s shoulder to walk him to the other end of the room so that they could both examine the schematic that they pretended to be interested in. “I’m not certain which side you’re on.”

“Which ever side you’re on,” Will said, that spark lit up inside of him again and shot straight through his veins, flushing his pale skin, just a little.

“I think we understand each other,” Galen said, as his angular face flushed, and looked years younger in an instant, “don’t we? We serve the Empire as loyally as we possibly can,” he said, with a soft quirk of his lips.

Perhaps trusting Will was reckless, but for this plan to work, for him to be able to alert Jyn, someday, about what he was doing … he had to trust  _ someone _ .

The brunet nodded slowly, eyes on Galen’s, taking in the rich amber color of them. “Yes. Exactly.” There were words that didn’t need to be said, and Will could  _ feel _ Galen’s sincerity, if not his apprehension, too.

“When we’re finished here, would …” Galen hesitated, not having socialized with anyone more than was strictly necessary for his facade in years, “you like to have dinner? I’d be happy to give you a tour of the station … after you’ve been given your uniform and passes, of course.”

A smile lit Will’s sea blue eyes and he found himself nodding before he could even recollect what he was asked. “Is dinner more than just rations handed out in a mess hall?”

“It can be, yes. I’ve been given quarters with a dining table, a luxury here,” Galen said, modestly. “It gives me the quiet I need to think.”

“I’d say yes either way,” Will shrugged, “but real food is so much better tasting than rations.”   
  
“I’m sure I can arrange something,” Galen said, and felt his face glow with a flush, again. It was just excitement at having an ally, that was all. After decades without a soul to confide it, Galen felt … saved, even if he never made it off of this planet.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please note slight changes to backgrounds for Krennic and Erso, it is an AU after all.

Hours after Will was given his uniform, extra clothes, and his security passes, he showed up at Galen Erso’s door, so to speak. He’d been given a map, which he used, even if he didn’t need it to seek out the other man. He pressed the ringer for the door, to alert the man inside of his presence.   
  
Galen opened the door, and his eyes brightened when he saw that it was Will, and not Krennic, for once. “Please, come in. Did you have any trouble finding me?” Galen asked, with a wry, subtle smile on his lips.

Will waved the datapad in his hand and stepped inside the room. “This map was very useful.” He wasn’t sure yet if living area were listened in on or not, so he kept his conversation casual, nothing too telling.

Galen closed the door behind Will, and relaxed. “I think we’re safe in here, there would be no point in listening to anything in my quarters, I have nobody to whom I can speak,” he sighed, and realized that sounded self-pitying, and changed the subject. “Tea?”

Will nodded. “In that case,” he let out a sigh as the doors closed behind them and dropped the map down on the table. “The map was not helpful at all.” He was dressed in clean clothes, not the uniform yet, but his hair was wet but drying, longer looking.

Galen smiled, and his face ached a little, the muscles so unused to smiling. He took that to mean that Will would like tea, and busied himself making it as he tried not to stare at Will. “In that it was incorrect, or in that you had no need of it?”

“It was much easier for me to track you down by feel alone, since we’ve already met,” Will explained, giving truth to what Galen had already assumed.

Galen looked up from where he filled a tea pot with hot water, and smiled with his eyes, letting them go gentle and awestruck. “You’re force-sensitive?”

“Yes. My father was a Jedi Master for the Republic. Years ago, before the fall, before Vader and Palpatine…” Will sighed, wandering Galen’s quarters, looking at the mundane things; there wasn’t a lot of personal stuff in here.

Galen’s quarters were larger than most, but very bare. He had nothing personal to show, no photos, no awards, nothing decorative. His work spilled over the tables: sketches and pages of messy, illegible equations stacked three deep. He cleared off the dining table, shifting the work to the side, and set two teacups on the surface. “I have never met a Jedi before, but I’ve been fascinated for some time by their abilities, saddened by their extinction. You’ve never been trained?”

“No,” Will said, shaking his head. “There is not one Jedi left in the universe. Well, my father, maybe, there’s no saying there. I taught myself what I know, which admittedly isn’t much.” Will sat down at the table with a soft smile at Galen. “Do you have family?” He’d heard the scientist did, but Will didn’t want to assume anything.

Galen’s face went from intrigued to haunted, and he looked away from Will as he brought the teapot to their table, and set it down. “I did, once.” He was silent for a moment, and focused on the steam that tendrilled out of the spout of the teapot. “My wife was killed when I was brought here, my daughter, Jyn, escaped. I have no idea where she might be, whether she is alive, or dead.” Galen’s fingers lingered on the handle of the pot, and startled when there was a knock at the door. “One second.”   
  
He went to the door, and answered, accepting dinner with a quiet thank you, then brought the trolley to the table after closing the door. Under the cover was a dinner for two: real food, not rations. “Help yourself.”

“Sorry to hear,” Will said quietly, making a mental note to look for a Jyn Erso. He looked the food provided, some sort of nerf steak and mashed vegetable. He took some of each but waited for Galen. “The Empire has taken from everyone.”

“Which is why I’ve devoted years and years of my life to this project,” Galen sighed, and took a small portion for himself. Usually, he just ate enough to keep going, without any real appetite. Tonight, the food looked a little better.

“For your daughter,” Will stated, and cut into the steak, taking a bite. It wasn’t terrible. “I’m sure she’s out there.”

“She was very, very young when I was taken …” Galen said, softly, and steeled himself against the way grief welled up inside him at the thought of her. She was so small, so young, and the world was harsh. His heart twisted in his chest, and he looked at the ceiling for a moment, and took a deep breath. “My greatest fear is that she is found, and used against me.”

“We won’t let that happen,” Will blurted out, and then looked at the other man, reaching over to touch his hand, taking it. “I promise.”

Galen stared at Will’s hand for a moment, and curled his hand around Will’s. It had been a long time since he’d been touched for longer than a handshake, if that. A curious, human need for contact reared in the back of Galen’s brain, and he let himself enjoy the moment as warmth flooded through him. “Thank you, I’d like to believe that is possible.”

Soft, chestnut  brown curls fell into Will’s eyes as he took another bite, but kept his fingers curled around Galen’s, comfortingly. “Maybe we can send out some sort of message the closer we get to this being done.”

Galen found himself staring at Will, again, struck by the unreal blue of his eyes, and the length of his eyelashes. “I’d already thought of that, it would be dangerous, but if we can find someone to trust, someone who can help deliver it …”

“The pilot who brought me in, he had a strange… presence. Not the same as most of the Empire,” Will explained, taking another bite and letting his fingers linger over Galen’s, soothing. “I’ll look into it.”

Galen noticed that Will kept their hands together on the table. It was a simple, innocent touch, but as comforting to Galen after a long isolation as a crackling fireplace to a man who’d wandered in, out of a storm. “That would be helpful. When the time is right, I know who could find Jyn,” Galen confided, his heart beating a little harder as he said the words aloud. 

“You have someone in mind?” Will asked and took his hand back to grab a glass of the blue milk.

“An old family friend,” Galen confided, and used his now free, warm hand to take his cup of tea. “On Jedha … Saw Guerrera.” He watched Will’s face to see if there was any recognition. Saw was … infamous.

“He's a friend of yours?” Will asked, merely placing where people were in relation to another. He’d heard the name, seen the man once. “He knows where your daughter is?”

This was, for Galen, the riskiest part. Telling another person how to find Jyn was far, far more dangerous than putting his own life in Will’s hands. His daughter, if she was still alive, was all he had left. He went silent for a moment, hesitating, then looked at Will. “Possibly,” he finally said, in a quiet voice, and swallowed hard.

He had to trust someone. Will was his best hope. Right now, Will was his only hope.

Will was thoughtful with that and nodded his head in understanding. He wouldn’t press. He ate the food given, quietly for a moment. “I’ll help in anyway I can.”

“At the moment, just being able to speak of this aloud is help,” Galen said, and looked into Will’s eyes with a sigh. “Years of secrecy has made it difficult to let my guard down,” he said, apologetically.

“That’s understandable. I’ve lived my whole life in secrecy about my lineage.” Will sipped the tea this time, finally not too hot.

“Do you know your father’s name?” Galen asked.

“Yes. When I was old enough my mother told me, by then it was too late, the Jedi were killed off and my father disappeared,” Will explained.

“What was his name, if you don’t mind my asking?” Galen asked, with a tilt of his head.

Will hesitated, but he knew that trust went two ways. Galen had given him the name of the man who knew where to find his daughter, and that was risky. “Obi-wan Kenobi,” he said, softly.

“I think I’ve heard that name before,” Galen said, and smiled a little, happy to see that Will was willing to trade secrets with him.

“He was a renowned master of the council,” Will explained, setting his utensils down. “Jedi don’t keep families though. Which is why my mother never told him about me.”

“After my own misadventure, I can see why. Have you tried to search for him? Seek him out? Are Jedi able to do that?” Galen asked as he began to eat again.

“Everywhere I have gone ends up a dead end. Or someone tells me to stop looking. If he’s alive, he’s hidden away for a reason,” Will said, decidedly, as though he’d taken his whole life to come to this conclusion and he had to accept that.

“The world is changing, if we can manage this, the world will change,” Galen pointed out. “If we reveal the Empire’s weakness, perhaps a man like your father will be able to return.”

“If he does, I’ll find him then,” Will said with a smile, hopeful in their new situation, their new friendship. He sipped his tea, setting the meal aside for now, quite full.

“This could work for both of us, in that case,” Galen murmured, with brighter eyes. He sipped his tea, and let his hand rest on the table, trying to keep himself from hoping.

“I have tremendous faith that it will,” the young Force sensitive man said, and  rested his hand over Galen’s, feeling bound to him already, but that wasn’t uncommon for a man with his abilities.

Galen smiled, softly, and curled his fingers in with Will’s. The warm glow filled him again, and made Galen flush a little. “Difficult to believe I’ve only met you this morning.”

“I feel like we’ve known each other for years,” Will admitted, their fingers lacing together, seamless and perfect.

Galen flushed a little and squeezed Will’s hand, fingers laced with Will’s. “I don’t

usually do this. I’m not a friendly sort of person.”

“Neither am I, actually.” Will reassured Galen with a squeeze back. It was easier for him because of what he could do, how he felt people out, but sometimes that was a curse.

“I haven’t so much as held hands with another person since my wife died,” Galen said, softly, a little shy.

“I’m sorry,” Will replied, softly, rubbing his his thumb over the back of Galen’s hand. “Is this uncomfortable for you?” He could pull back if he had to, but Will had never felt so compelled in his life to get close to anyone, as if the Force itself was pushing him.

“No,” Galen admitted, as his neck turned a little pink under it’s warm, pale bronze tone, “it’s … comforting. I don’t mind. My private revolt has meant that I’m … isolated, even among a group of coworkers, here.”

“You’re held captive without the illusion of being so,” Will pointed out, though it was clear to them both, and turned Galen’s hand over in his own, and cupped it with his other one. “But now you have me, you don’t have to hide.”

Galen’s eyes went red around the edges, and he swallowed, hard, then looked at their hands together. “There are many decent men here, none seem willing to take action. Good men do nothing in the face of evil, I think your willingness makes you a man that a Jedi Master would be proud of.”

Will smiled a little more at that, mostly sadly. “I wish that were so. I haven’t done much until now to face it down. Like everyone else I’ve gone with the flow, until they put me here against my will. I wish I was more attuned to everything before now.”

“I was foolish, before,” Galen confessed, sadly, his expression making him look older, and his gaunt face look haunted. “Krennic is a childhood friend of mine. He knew I would not work on weapons for them, he told me my work would help to bring about one of my greatest dreams: limitless, free energy, for everyone. That is not what my research was being used for…”

Galen sighed, embarrassed. “I underestimated him, believed him. No calculation of mine could hold the variables for betrayal. That was on Coruscant. My wife, infant daughter and I fled, and I hid from them, for years … and then, he found me again, and here I am.”

“The Empire knows no bounds.  Which is why we have to stop them,” Will sighed, rubbing a hand over his jaw, but kept Galen’s in his other one, tugging it a little so they were leaned forward. “That thermal exhaust port. We have to let  _ them _ know.”

Galen’s eyes, dark and sad, roved over Will’s face, and seemed to find strength in it. “We must,” he agreed. “I’ve thought of making a hologram, and finding a way to get it to Saw, who can get it to Jyn … if she is out there. She’s … headstrong, and resourceful. She would find a way.”

“That might be the only way they would take it seriously,” Will agreed, smiling so his sea-blue eyes lit up, and rubbed Galen’s hand again. “We’ll need to find a pilot we can trust, that might take some time.”

“No one better to tell if a man is trustworthy than someone with your gift,” Galen said, smiling softly as his greying hair fell into his eyes. “Reading people has never been a talent of mine. Lyra was always better at that.”

“You were busy with your work,” Will excused, but canted his head knowingly. “I’ll do that part.” He reached over and tucked the strand of grey behind Galen’s ear once more.

Galen stared, seemingly transfixed at the intimate touch, and reminded himself to breathe. “I feel as though I already known you, that I’ve known you … somewhere before. Are Jedi capable of making someone feel that?” he asked, teasing, gently.

“Not that I know of,” Will whispered, and then swallowed down the hard to breathe feeling he felt in his lungs. He was falling fast and hard, unlike with anyone he’d ever met before, though until now he’d walled himself off.

“I watched you change that storm trooper’s mind, he’s a stubborn man …” Galen pointed out, and laid his free hand over Will’s hand, gently.

“Simple minds are the most susceptible,” Will chuckled, leaning in on his elbows, closer to Galen, dark curls haloing around his face. “Most stormtroopers? They’re clones.” 

“Without being arrogant, I can say that for all my faults, my mind is hardly simple,” Galen chuckled, modestly, flushing a little again. His hand hesitated a moment, then touched one of Will’s curls and tucked it behind his ear. His whole body tingled at that, it was hard to explain: a series of complex chemical reactions set off by Will’s scent? By the sight of his eyes? The sound of his voice?

Being empathic and Force sensitive left Will reeling in Galen’s newfound feelings, glad to know that his own were at least being reciprocated. “Then you have nothing to worry about. I can’t touch your mind or influence you at all. How you feel about me is by your own convictions.”

Galen smiled at that, and tilted his head. “Precisely what a man influencing my mind would want me to believe,” he joked, softly, not taking his hands from Will’s for a second.

“Do you think I would want to cause you malice?” Will asked with a light laugh, as though he could never imagine wanting that with Galen, not ever. Though the man could easily be his own father’s age, Will didn’t see the age gap at all. He merely saw a companion, someone that finally understood him.

“No,” Galen said after staring into Will’s face for a long moment. “I’ve been surrounded by evil and indifference, and befriended by the manipulative for long enough to know when those qualities are not present,” he said, with quiet, humble confidence.

Reaching out with the Force, Will touched Galen’s mind, gently, soothingly, as if to prove what he felt were true, that Will would never do anything to harm him. If nothing else, Will would protect him to his own death. “I’m glad you think so.”

Galen’s eyes closed for a second when Will touched his mind, and he sighed, shoulders relaxing, then opened his eyes again and smiled at Will. “I have never felt such an immediate connection to anyone, before,” he confessed. “Even Lyra had to pursue me for weeks before I opened up to her.”

“I felt it the second I saw you, when I handed you the disc back,” Will admitted, their hands still held together, one on top of the other, as if somehow holding each other together.

“I felt as though I were recognizing an old friend,” Galen murmured, and let his fingertips touch Will’s pulse on the underside of his wrist. “Someone I’d met in a dream, perhaps.”

“A premonition perhaps,” Will whispered, leaning over enough now that their voices could only be heard between them, forehead nearly touching.

“That’s more your talent than mine,” Galen whispered back, and swallowed as their faces drew closer. They were breathing the same air now, and pulled closer by a sort of magnetism that Galen’s brilliant mind could not quantify.

“Perhaps, unless you were being projected my own premonitions,” Will explained, quieter and quieter as their noses brushed, and their head canted just enough.

“That sounds … “ Galen whispered, and froze at the sound of a knock at his door. “Oh.” The knock repeated, sharply.

“You should get that,” Will said, licking his lips once and then let go of Galen’s hands, reluctantly. “Best not to make him wait.”

Galen took a deep breath and reluctantly stood from the table, able to feel the air cool against his flushed cheeks as he walked to the door, and opened it. “Orson,” he said, in greeting, his eyes dull.   
  
“Galen, may I come in?” Krennic asked, with a look over Galen’s form, then back up at his flushed face.   
  
“I think you already know the answer to that,” Galen sighed, and opened the door wider to admit Krennic, who swept in, and gave Will a look, then nodded. 

“Mr. Graham. Glad to see you’ve arrived. I meant to greet you at your quarters, and found them … empty.”

“I got right to work when I arrived, and then Mister Erso offered dinner to me that wasn’t around a mess hall full of other people,” Will explained, standing to greet the commanding officer.

Krennic offered a smile that did not meet his eyes, and he gave Will’s hand a brief shake. “How kind of him. Galen is usually so reclusive, these days,” Krennic said, with a look at Galen as Galen collected their dishes.   
  
“We had much to discuss. Bringing Will up to speed on our work while we ate is … efficient,” Galen said, without looking up as he worked.   
  
“Yes … efficient,” Krennic mused, and looked at Will, again.

Will made use of himself to help Galen clean up and put everything back on the cart of which it came, and then touched his back gently. “I’ll see myself out, and see you in the morning at the lab?”

“Of course, we’ll talk more then,” Galen said, without expression in his voice, or risking a look over at Will as Krennic stepped aside to let Will out with a disdainful look, and a haughty nod.

“Evenin’ then,” Will said, head down as he walked out, wondering vaguely if he had stepped over a line, if Galen was… with Krennic, or… Well he didn’t know. Will decided not to think about it, and to keep his head clear and on the task, to get to Jyn Erso.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please keep in mind changed backstory with Galen and Krennic.

Early the next morning, as usual, Galen Erso let himself into the schematics laboratory, nodded to his team, and answered a few questions before he let himself into the master schematics room, and hoped he would find Will there. 

Will was up early, and already in the room, pouring over the blueprints on a smaller pad, a cup of something hot curled into another hand, and curls still wet from the shower he’d taken just before coming in. He was in uniform, much like Galen’s, pale in color that only set off his blue eyes.

Galen took a deep breath when he saw Will, and couldn’t help the smile that graced his lips. “Good morning. Did you sleep well?”    
  
Will was a vision in his uniform, Galen had to admit. He’d made an effort to look presentable this morning, a little more so than usual.

Will looked up and smiled back, carefully, and pushed the extra cup near him toward Galen. “I slept okay. Bed is too hard, but I won’t complain.” Galen looked groomed, and well kept, and Will had to tear his eyes away before remembering they had almost kissed before Krennic knocked.

Will sighed.

Galen looked down at the cup, surprised, and picked it up to take a sip. “The beds are all like that here, at least mine is,” he murmured, and touched the side of Will’s arm. “Thank you for the tea. I’m sorry we couldn’t … finish ours last night.”

“Can't tell the director no,” Will  said with a wary smile, and sipped his tea. “Hopefully the meeting went well.”

“Well enough,” Galen sighed, and sipped his tea again, then brought up new schematics with a touch of a few buttons. “Lieutenant Commander Krennic was a childhood friend of mine, as I mentioned. Our relationship has changed over time. We used to be very close, and had a falling out, to put it mildly. He remains … “ Galen searched for the right word as he examined the thermal exhaust port where it glowed above them, “convinced that I am, in some way, his property, regardless of the deep schism between us.”

Will hummed his response,  nodding his head, and looking over the large hologram in front of him, the changes made already. “Have you told him about the changes?”

“I did,” Galen nodded, and stole a look at Will as they stood shoulder to shoulder. “He seemed to agree it’s necessary to ensure we don’t experience any complications when the weapon is presented to Lord Vader and the Emperor. He is anxious to prevent any mishaps.”

“Good, good,” Will murmured, leaning just a bit into Galen’s shoulder. “I was afraid they might find it unneeded, but the presentation to Lord Vader seems to be high priority.”

“I have found that’s a reliable way to emphasize anything that needs to happen quickly,” Galen murmured under his breath, and smiled to himself.

“Would hate to present them with a space station with terrible exhaust back-flow,” Will said with a little grin, canting his slightly to look at Galen out of the corner of his eye.

“That would be incredibly humiliating, it’s best we correct the error at once,” Galen smiled. He’d smiled more in the last day than he had in years.

Because they were being watched, Will didn’t risk touching Galen outright, instead he brushed his mind with his own, nudging him slightly with the Force, a soothing manner. “Best we do,” he agreed. “The orders were sent out then? Corrected on the original plans?”

Galen faltered for a moment, and took a deep breath at the reminder of how close they’d become last night. “I was just about to send the revisions today.”

“Let’s be sure there’s nothing else that needs fixing first?” Will suggested, skimming the plans, but there weren’t many spots that they could really sabotage without someone noticing.

“I could not help but notice,” Galen said, and enlarged a part of the hologram, “that my room is directly above yours. Strictly speaking, this is not part of the Death Star … as they’ve taken to calling it. I simply thought it was interesting.”

Will’s smile broadened, looking over the other plans now, of the base they were living on. “So it is. I hadn’t noticed.”

Galen smiled at Will, “our windows don’t open, of course, but the air ducts form a tunnel from here-” Galen pointed, “to here.”

A tight, but fluttering feeling entered Will’s chest as he studied how the ducts worked, able to keep it to memory, like a picture. “Air flow must be great,” he murmured, knowingly.

“Strange. I was enjoying a breath of fresh air when I met you…” Galen said, with a shy smile, over the rim of his cup.

“I may have to check that out, see if there is some correlation.” Will sipped his tea, now nearly gone.

“For the sake of science,” Galen quipped, dryly, and went to sit at a console to prepare revised blueprints to send to the workers for the thermal exhaust port.

Will hummed his replied, again, and finished his tea. “Is there anything else I can inspect for you?” Will asked, coyly.

Galen’s fingers fumbled against the console panel and he looked over his shoulder at Will, a heavy blush creeping up his neck. “I’m quite old, and neglected…” he managed, licking his lips. “You’re sure you are up for the task?”

“You just need a tune up, nothing I can’t handle,” Will breathed, biting his lower lip between his teeth, setting his empty cup down into the sink in the room.

Galen coughed as his cheeks went red, and he struggled to focus on his message and the plans, but stole a look at Will, with sparkling eyes. “Unfortunately, this is hardly the place for it.”

“Definitely not,” Will agreed, and went back to work, looking over the weapons schematics, quietly.

Galen’s heart hammered in his chest at the way Will flirted with him. He was an old man, now, hardly Will’s match. “Perhaps I could look over your quarters, tonight. I could show you how those air ducts work,” Galen said with a hammering heart.

“I would enjoy the educational value of that. For your trouble, perhaps I could work out some of the tune up,” Will offered, smiling mostly to himself as he made a few notes on his datapad.

Galen laughed softly, and tried not to look too happy as he bit his lower lip. “All of the Empire to choose from, and you take an interest in an old widower?” he asked, under his breath and looked at Will in the glass of the screen.

Will looked back at Galen, blue eyes brighter, almost green, from the light. “You’re the first that’s been interesting enough to have an interest in.”

“I find that hard to believe,” Galen laughed, with a strand of his silver hair in his eyes.

“Or maybe I’ve just never bothered with anyone else until now,” Will explained, softly, wanting to reach out and touch Galen’s soft hair once more.

“I thought for certain that my luck had been used up,” Galen said, softly, unable to help but stare at Will’s crystal blue eyes.

“Or maybe it’s just beginning,” Will retorted softly, their light banter was leaving him with a  light swell in his chest, veins buzzing with anticipation.

Likewise, just being around Will was giving Galen hope that perhaps his life was not going to end on a lonely state. Once Krennic discovered what Galen had done, it would end, of course. He had accepted that long ago. “Beginnings are rare, I had not expected one. I was waiting for my ending.”

“All of our endings can be found in our beginnings,” Will said, with a sly look. “And vice versa. Live for the moment; we’ll try to fix the future. I believe this… ‘Death Star’ will be the fix we need.”

Galen looked up at the schematics, thoughtfully. “In a way, it’s like my child … a terrifying child that I hope will undo itself,” he sighed, heavily, then looked at Will. “This is not the way I wanted to contribute to the Universe. I do not want innocent blood on my hands.”

“You already have it, the most we can do is right it all,” Will said, quietly, and  gestured to the cameras, well aware they were watching, but he had overridden the audio system for the time being.

Galen nodded, and resumed looking at the screen, away from Will’s arresting eyes. There was something they reminded him of, it was … difficult to place.  “You’re not worried that they can hear us?”

“I disabled audio for a few moments, they’ll think it’s a tech area in the security, nothing else,” Will explained, and looked at Galen, even if he didn’t meet his eyes. “What time tonight?”

“Two hours after we leave the lab,” Galen said, and licked his lips as he did his best not to look too eager, working on fine details of the revised instructions, his intricate mind turning over what Will’s eyes reminded him of.

“I look forward to it,” Will said, and then smiled, looking down at his own work, swallowing. 

They worked for hours, mostly in silence interrupted by the occasional question from one of the Engineers. It dragged on, achingly slow. Galen used to be able to lose himself in working for hours. Now that he had something else to look forward to, it was excruciating to be close to Will, but unable to look at him too often, or say anything more than strictly necessary.   
  
Finally, it was time to go. Galen closed his work, and stood. “I’ll see you tomorrow. Any questions before I retire for the night?” he asked, for the benefit of those listening, quite likely Krennic himself, after the interrogation he’d received last night over his choice of dinner guest.

Will shook his head slowly, mops of curls falling into his face. “No. I’ll see you tomorrow, Galen.” Will gathered his few things, saluted with a grin, and left. He made his way back to his room, and used the refresher to tidy himself up, a few hours yet until Galen would arrive.

Galen lingered at the lab, as he usually did, finishing up loose ends and went back to his quarters, quietly.    
  
Two hours after Will left the lab, the air vent in Will’s ceiling shifted, and then the grate moved to the side, quietly. Galen lowered himself down, and dropped down to land on his feet on the carpeted floor with a mischievous smile. “I have always wanted to escape through one of those,” he murmured.

Will stood there, watching, his eyes taking in every last inch of Galen as he lowered and then stood, just  a little dusty. Will reached over and dusted him off with one hand, fingers lingering on his shoulder. “You seemed to enjoy yourself.”

Galen looked up at the vent, then at Will, his dark eyes shining happily. “I did,” he admitted, and swallowed hard, then took Will’s hand in his own, and held it. He’d become addicted to the feeling of Will’s hands so quickly that it was almost sad. “Working with you like that all day and not looking at you the way I wanted to, or speaking to you like you were anyone else was … difficult.”

Squeezing Galen’s hand, Will stepped forward, closing the distance between them, like magnets once again, drawn to each other. “So it wasn’t just me?”

Galen’s heart, usually heavy as a rock, felt like it had wings in his chest when Will stepped closer. It made him breathless, and flushed just to speak freely to Will, just to touch him. “The day felt like it was weeks long, I’ve never noticed time creeping by so slowly before.”

“Neither have I,” Will admitted, feeling as if they were right back where they were last night, nothing between them, not even Krennic. “I’ll admit, I was a little put off to have been told to leave last night. I didn’t want to.”

“I’m sorry, it was probably for your own good. He asked me questions about what you were doing in my quarters for almost an hour,” Galen whispered, and laced their fingers together. “I didn’t want you to leave, either.”

Will took Galen’s other hand, lacing their fingers there, too, and then leaned in, forehead to forehead. “Where were we then?”

“We were here,” Galen whispered, breathlessly as their faces rested together, and his eyes closed. 

That flutter in his chest started to race as Will leaned in, daringly, and pressed his lips against Galen’s. A spark shot through his veins, working it’s way down through his body, until his toes curled in his boots, and his fingers squeezed Galen’s.

The spark spread through Galen, as well, as Will pressed his soft lips against Galen’s. He had almost forgotten how it felt to be kissed. His head spun, and he felt something deep within him beginning to stir as he wrapped his arms around Will, very slowly, and held them chest to chest for their first, tremulous kiss. 

Will’s arms went around Galen’s broad shoulders, planting them together so their hearts beat as one against each other, through their chests and clothes, only fabric, skin, and muscle keeping them from actually touching. Will canted his head, locking their lips and pressing his tongue gently against Galen’s lips, seeking entrance, to deepen.

Galen’s entire body felt like it was floating now, and he held Will more tightly to him as he parted his lips and tilted his head so that their mouths locked even more perfectly than before. One of Galen’s hands closed in the back of Will’s shirt, and he felt his heart begin to pound.

“Galen,” Will whispered between breaths, their kiss starting to heat, his hands in Galen’s silver hair, tugging gently.

The tug at his hair, and the way Will kissed him made Galen feel like Will was breathing life into him, making him glow like Kyber crystals when they met their perfect match. It was hard to believe someone as stunning, as young as Will wanted him, but Galen could feel it in the urgent press of Will’s lips and the tug of his hands. “Will-” Galen breathed, and held Will close by the small of his back as their tongues brushed.

“I’ve wanted to touch you all day,” Will whispered between breaths and pressed of lips and tongue, not sure how he got lucky here. Galen was handsome and intelligent, but hidden away for so long, Will was feeling lucky for this chance at all.

Galen shivered at the words, and the warm brush of Will’s lips and tongue. Will turned a cold world warm with just a kiss. “I’d forgotten what desire felt like…” he confessed, and kissed Will again, with more need than before.

Will’s hands slipped down to cup Galen’s jaw, flitting fingers and thumbs over sharp cheek bones, kissing him a little harder, deeper as desire pooled in his core at just the other man’s words. Will thanked the Force he wasn’t a real Jedi, that he could form these attachments.

The Force was the last thing on Galen’s mind when Will cupped his face like that. He sucked at Will’s lower lip, slowly, and felt his hands tremble as their chests pressed together.

Slipping his hands down Galen’s chest, Will felt his heart hammer against his ribs, pounding in time with his own, breaths panting out now as electricity seemed to pop and sizzle between them. Will lathed their tongues together slowly, meshing their mouths seamlessly.

Galen let his hand slide to Will’s hip, the other pressed against the small of Will’s back through his uniform shirt. He moaned, softly, and felt his knees go a little weak. “Will-” he whispered, between slow, hot kisses, and felt himself go stiff under his trousers.

Will bit Galen’s bottom lip softly for the way he said his name like that, almost desperate with lust. They were hip-to-hip, and Will could feel the rising need of his own cock go hard against Galen’s, through thin uniform fabric, and rolled his hips forward as he searched for the zipper to Galen’s uniform.

Galen’s uniform peeled away as Will unzipped it, revealing a broad, surprisingly hairy chest beneath the standard issue fabric. Galen did the same to Will with a shaking hand, slowly, and ran his palm over Will’s smooth chest as it was bared.

Not at all disappointed, Will palmed down the perfect lines of torso and greying fur on Galen’s chest, taking a moment to look him over, which only proved to make him harder. He pushed the top portion of uniform off the other man’s shoulders, skimming his hands over well toned shoulders and hot skin.

Galen shed his shirt, and did the same to Will, with a hungry look in his eyes. He pulled Will closer, urgently, and kissed him hard, like he’d been starving for years, and Will was his first taste of a feast.

“Galen-” Will managed to whisper before their lips crashed together again, hungrier this time, hands desperate to touch skin anywhere they could. Will ground a palm down against Galen’s bulge and then unzipped the rest of the uniform, reaching into grasp him with a low, feral-like moan of his own.

Galen gasped against Will’s lips at the touch. Far too fixated on what he’d lost, and what he had to do to bother pleasuring himself, it had been years since anyone had touched him that way. He grasped Will around the waist, holding him close, and slipped his thigh between Will’s thighs so that they ground together as Galen rocked his hips into Will’s hand.

Taking a few steps back, Will leaned back against the wall, and pulled Galen over him, thighs spread, as he worked the scientist over from root to tip, slowly. His free hand wrapped around the back of Galen’s neck and dragged him ever closer for another, heated kiss, biting and licking at his mouth.

Galen undid Will’s pants with frantic hands, and yanked them down to his thighs, then gripped Will’s cock with a groan at how hard it was, and began to stroke. “It’s been … so long,” Galen whispered, between hard, almost violently passionate kisses.

“Same,” Will groaned, hips canted out, wantonly pivoting them against Galen’s hands, strong and calloused. “Yes-”

“Good?” Galen asked, breathlessly as they stroked each other. He kissed the side of Will’s neck, up to his ear, sucking on the lobe with a moan.

“Yes, don’t stop,” Will breathed out, raggedly, fisting Galen’s silky hot cock with his own rough hands, mechanic's hands, faster and faster as his own lust pooled deep in his lower back.

Galen bit Will’s earlobe, and sucked it again, stroking Will harder and faster, able to feel him throb in his palm as he trembled with lust. “Will-” Galen breathed, raggedly. He could feel his own long-neglected body start to burn and twist inside.

Will clutched Galen’s shoulder with his free hand, gripping tight enough that when he was sure he was going to come, his whole body quaked and writhed against Galen. He worked the other man over just as quickly now, thumbing the tip and smearing precome all over the knotted nerves there, enticing the man to let go.

Galen gasped, and felt himself explode inside, all light and heat as Will coaxed him over the edge for the first time in years. He squeezed Will’s cock and moaned his name into Will’s ear, over and over as he poured over Will’s fingers.

Gasps and groans filled the room as they panted together, coming undone completely together, in time and synced. Will kissed Galen again, passionate and sound as they chests heaved and slowed, still riding the length of their orgasms.

Galen dropped his head to Will’s shoulder, eyes closed, and inhaled the scent of Will’s sweaty throat. “As I said … it’s been … a while,” he whispered, both arms wrapping tightly around Will’s back, holding him.

“That’s okay,” Will said, quietly, still catching his breath as his body regained its posture, but he was mostly slumped against the wall. He trailed his clean hand through Galen’s hair, holding him.

Galen lifted his head to kiss Will, slowly and deeply, their hearts pounding together in the twin prisons of their ribs. “You’re … “ Galen was lost for words, and smiled against Will’s lips, “stunning.”

Will smiled at that, and touched Galen’s face. “So are you,” he whispered, lips brushing.

“Hardly,” Galen smiled, and kissed Will back, then rested their faces together. “I can barely look away from you when we’re working.”

“The feeling is… mutual.” Will gazed into Galen’s eyes, up close like this, he could see every gold fleck, ever amber color, almost like crystals he’d seen on other worlds, perfect and rough.

“Standing up to the Empire, as I’ve decided to do requires a measure of reckless disregard for how long I’ll stay alive,” Galen murmured. “You make me wish there were a way out.”

“We’ll make a way out or die together,” Will whispered, nosing in against Galen’s face, pulling him closer as nothing felt close enough.

“You’ve only known me two days, you would be content to die with me?” Galen asked, and backed them toward the small, plain couch against one wall.

“I would be content to die with you for the cause we’re set out to accomplish,” Will reiterated, not wanting to seem like he was so attached yet, or needy, for that matter. Will knew what he wanted, and the world could end today.

Galen nodded, and laid on the couch, then pulled Will down, over him to snuggle for a moment. He held Will in his arms again, tightly, and nuzzled his dark curls. “We’ll do what we must.”

“Until then…” Will whispered once more, never once minding he had to be the one to push for what they both wanted, he was adaptable that way. He kissed Galen again, happy to be held, like he was wanted.

Will was wanted, desperately. He was a brilliant spot of light in Galen’s previously dark world, and though they didn’t know each other well, yet, Galen adored what he did know. “Until then,” he sighed, and curled one long leg around Will’s leg, holding them close.

Will hoped that Krennic didn’t return tonight, didn’t find Galen not in his quarters, and didn’t come looking either. A quick feel out of the area, and he didn’t sense the man near, so he let his guard down, just that bit more. Will nuzzled into Galen’s soft hair, kissing his ear. “There’s a pilot that flew me in the other day, seemed less than settled with his post with the Empire.”

“The one you mentioned before?” Galen asked, with a look at Will, basking in his affection.

“Yes, saw him deliver something else today. Same thing. I’ll keep an eye on him,” Will answered, and, running a hand down Galen’s chest, through the hair there.

Galen smiled to himself when Will did that, and palmed down Will’s back with a sigh. “Would you help me make the hologram?”

“Of course I will,” the brunet said, resting his his forehead against Galen’s cheek. “For Jyn?”

“I could do it myself, of course,” Galen sighed, and looked at Will, one hand slipping into his soft hair. “I’d rather not, though.”

“I don’t mind helping.” Will let go of a sigh, contently, and moved his head into Galen’s hand. “Do you know what you’ll say to her?”

Galen was silent for a moment, thinking it over. “I could think for hours, and never come up with anything …. That was enough.” He sighed, and shook his head. “I’ve decided it is best just to speak from the heart, and make it as brief as I can bear to.”

“A good idea.” Will kissed Galen’s jaw. “When would you like to do it?”

“Soon. The sooner the better, we should give it to the pilot before he leaves Eadu, or I will become selfish and want more time with you before we set the inevitable into motion.”

Will smiled at that with a nod, and then crawled over Galen, straddling his lap with strong thighs. “Then be selfish now so we can make our first move.”

Galen smiled widely, and revealed a bright, but uneven smile as he ran his hands up Will’s thighs, and stared at him. “You are … more than I deserve,” he groaned and palmed Will’s cock.

“I doubt that very much,” Will whispered and pressed a hot kiss to Galen’s mouth once more, cock already growing hard again in his capable hand.

Galen kissed Will, hot and slowly as his hand rocked around Will, squeezing him as his thumb pressed over the tip of Will’s cock. “I’m sure that I’ve dreamt you.”

“What did you dream, Galen?” Will whispered, having had his fair share of dreams, lately, and in the past, all of them leading up to this very moment. Will writhed, slowly, groaning against Galen’s mouth, licking his bottom lip.

“Of this, touching, kissing, not being alone,” Galen whispered against Will’s mouth as he stroked Will, slowly. “Your eyes. I am sure that I’ve dreamt about the blue of your eyes…”

Will smiled against Galen’s mouth for that and kissed him harder, rutting their cocks together, slowly, with easy swivels of his hips. “Maybe you have.”

Galen loosened his grip and grasped both of them, then stroked them together with a broken, wordless sound of pleasure. He closed his eyes and bit Will’s lower lip, harder, sucking it. “Will-”

“Galen-” he replied, groaning as his body worked right back into the frenzy it had been in before, flushed and hot, glistening with sweat.

“Have you been with a man before?” Galen asked, as he thrust with Will, their bodies moving as they writhed on the sofa, seamless and hot.

“Yes,” Will said, honestly, more than familiar with the feel of it all, but it had been some time. “Have you?” He didn’t want to hear Krennic’s name come from Galen’s lips, but he braced for it just the same.

“Yes,” Galen admitted, softly, not saying the name. He kissed Will’s lips instead, deeply, losing himself in the feeling. “When I was … very, very young,” he added, still stroking Will with a strong hand.

Will could be pleased with what they had now, but his body ached for more from Galen, for everything the man offered, or could offer. He kissed him slowly, arching his back and pressing his hips down against the other man’s as their cocks slid together in his perfect grip. “Younger than me?”

“Yes,” Galen whispered as they ground together, and nipped at Will’s lips, then kissed his neck. “Before I was married.”

Something like jealousy washed over Will in that moment, unlike anything he’d ever felt in his life, and definitely not something he was used to letting control him. He bit Galen’s lip, enough to taste blood, and sucked on it.

Galen gasped, surprised, and kissed Will for that harder, “nothing like this… nothing this good,” he assured him, throbbing at the thought that Will minded that he’d been with someone else.

There were sometimes, but not often, darker passions inside of Will that stirred unrelentingly at the most opportune moments. He ate the words from Galen’s mouth, possessively, spurred on to crash their hips together harder, hooking his arms under Galen’s legs. “No? You sure?”

“I’m … sure,” Galen gasped, and let his legs spread when Will hooked his arms under them. “Absolutely certain.”

“Tell me what you want,” Will murmuring against Galen’s mouth.

“I want to taste you,” Galen whispered, breathlessly, shaking with lust as he licked at Will’s perfect, soft lips, and sucked his tongue.

Will groaned at that, and kissed Galen harder for it, exploring his mouth with his tongue before he let go completely, and sat back, letting the dark edge of himself ebb away for now, melted with lust.

Galen sat up with dark eyes, and pushed Will down on the couch, then leaned over him, kissing his way down his chest to his cock, which he licked, slowly, groaning at the taste of him. Sticky from their first round of handling, Will pressed his hips up and into Galen’s mouth further, unable to help himself, hands on his shoulders.

“Galen…”

Galen moaned, not having done this for decades. He hollowed his cheeks and sucked, slowly, bobbing his head as he remembered how this felt. “Mmm,” he groaned, and flicked his tongue over the swollen head of Will’s cock, then took him down, all the way, to the back of his hot throat.

The younger man groaned, hands sliding to Galen’s hair, encouraging him. “Oh, wow… Galen…”

Galen pressed his mouth down, slowly, and pulled back up with a groan. The sound of Will moaning his name, enjoying himself was enough to make him grind himself against the sofa, pleasuring himself while he sucked, unable to stop. The taste of Will and the feeling of his girth in Galen’s mouth was incredibly erotic.

“Perfect,” Will managed to rasp out as his hips pressed in tighter, trying to get as much warm and friction as he could, all of it was incredible, and warming his core all over again.

Galen’s back flexed as he bobbed, and the skill came back to him. Soon he was sucking and scraping his teeth, rubbing the tip of Will’s perfect cock against the smooth inside of his cheek, big hands flexing against Will’s ass as Galen’s mouth vibrated with a hum.

“Keep that up and I’ll come-” Will gasped, hips bucking with uncontrollable urgency, his eyes closed, hands wrenched into Galen’s hair.

Galen didn’t mind that, he’d make Will come again. They could manage a night with no sleep if they had to. Galen groaned again, and rubbed his hand against Will’s balls, slowly, rolling them in his hand as he sucked Will’s tip, then wrapped his tongue around the shaft and took him down, deep.

A puddle of lust built strong in his lower back, and before Will knew what was happening, sparks of white hot heat blew through him. Gasping, he clenched Galen’s hair hard, coming thick droves against Galen’s tongue. Galen swallowed, twice, and moaned when he could manage as Will came against his tongue, hot and salty. Galen breathed through his nose as he swallowed again, and cleaned Will with swipes of his tongue. He pulled off, breathless, “Will…”

Will pulled Galen over him, and kissed the taste of himself from his lips, slowly. “You are amazing,” he whispered hooking his leg over Galen’s hip, and reached between them to palm his cock.

Galen moved over Will, straddling him, and spread his long, hair-dusted thighs astride Will’s hips. His amber eyes closed slowly when Will palmed him, hard and leaking already. “I’m glad I remembered how,” he whispered, between kisses. He moved fluidly, more gracefully than he did in the lab, all of his inhibitions down.

"What can I give you in return?” Will asked, seductively, or at least he was trying to be, his lips loose now with every tension wiped away from his body.

Will was phenomenally seductive. He’d utterly seduced the shut away scientist, taken him out of his despair, and showed him that he was still very much alive. “Your mouth?” Galen asked, against Will’s mouth, and thumbed the lower curve of his lip, “I … have stared at it for so long.”

“Straddle my chest?” Will asked, gripping onto Galen’s thighs to hoist him up, licking his lips.

Galen felt himself melt inside at the suggestion and crawled up Will’s body as he was urged to, covering Will’s chest and neck in kisses, then his face until he couldn’t reach his skin any more. Galen’s powerful thighs straddled Will’s chest, easily, and his cock bobbed just in front of Will’s lips, hot and thick, already wet at the tip.

Will grasped Galen’s ass tightly and squeezed, pushing his hips in toward his mouth, taking him down in one fluid movement, gagging at first and then loosening up enough to make an easy flow. He swirled his tongue over the tip, tasting him with a groan.

Galen watched over a heaving, hairy chest as Will swallowed him down, wrapping his beautiful, pink lips around him, and moaned deeply and loudly as he felt the hot, wet, velvet of Will’s tongue against his nerves. “Will … perfect…”

Squeezing thick thighs once more, Will moved his head up, and tugged Galen down into his mouth, almost down his throat, scathing tongue and teeth over sensitive nerves and hot skin.

Galen moaned again, wanton and low, lust making his deep voice shake. “Will-” he gasped, again, unable to say more as he lost himself in the bliss of Will sucking and licking him, the perfect heat of his mouth, and the flutter of Will’s dark eyelashes over his flushed cheek.    
  
Hand wound in Will’s curls, Galen began to thrust, slowly, building a rhythm slowly. 

Will gripped harder, laving his tongue when he could, taking Galen’s long cock down his throat, and over the rough pad of his tongue, humming his approval, urging him on.

With a tug of his fingers in Will’s hair, Galen plunged himself more deeply into Will’s mouth with his head back, adam’s apple bobbing in the air as he swallowed and rutted. “I want you, I want to be inside you-” Galen moaned, his voice so thick with desire that it hardly sounded like his own.

Will raked hands down Galen’s ass and thighs, bright and vivid blue eyes blazing lustfully up at him. He was half hard again at just the thought of the gorgeous older man losing himself to Will, inside of him, fucking him mercilessly, ravaged. He squeezed once, moaning.

Galen took that as an obvious yes, and raked his hand through Will’s hair as he groaned. “I’ve wanted to since I saw you... “

Will flushed brighter at that, and  gripped Galen’s thighs tighter to pull off, which he did, and then Will reached blindly for the counter where there was some mechanics oil, and it flew into his hand without him even having to get up.

Galen’s jaw dropped at the display of Will’s abilities, and desperation, and cupped Will’s face with both hands to kiss him soundly for it. As they kissed, Galen laid Will back on the couch, and slicked his hands with oil, then rubbed the tip of one finger against Will’s entrance, and slipped it in, slowly.

Flushed from letting Galen all but fuck his mouth, Will let out a groan, spreading his thighs a little further apart, hips canted to take his finger in smoothly. “Galen…”

“You like it?” Galen asked, in a deep voice, rocking his long finger into Will slowly. Will was the most beautiful thing he could remember seeing, pure and debauched at the same time.

“Yes,” Will breathed, eyes burning bright up into Galen’s, nothing but wanton lust still

evident there. “More.”

Galen slid his second finger in, and bent his fingers just a little to find the little knot inside Will’s hot, smooth body, then began to rub it as he kissed Will, slowly, winding his tongue around the Jedi’s. Will tugged fingers into Galen’s hair as they kissed, hot and heated, panting against his mouth, sucking on his tongue slowly, unable to get enough.

“More?” Galen asked when their mouths finally parted, breathlessly. He was skimming Will’s prostate with his fingertips, working it over as he scissored his fingers inside Will, easing him open.

The would be Jedi groaned, writhing under the scientist, rutting his hips down into his perfectly capable fingers. “Please, Galen-”

Galen pulled his fingers out, and crawled closer to settle between Will’s warm thighs. He positioned himself against Will, and then pressed his cock inside him with a shaking moan. Will accommodated easily, shaking himself as the other man filled him completely, slicked and warm.

“Oh-”

Galen stared down at Will as their bodies joined. He slid both arms under Will’s shoulders, hands curled around the tops of them, and pulled Will down as he pressed himself in, deeper. “Will-” Galen groaned, silver hair hanging in his dark eyes.

Groaning, Will wrapped his long legs around Galen’s hips, taking him down deeper as their bodies melded together for the first time, melting into one single unit.  Will reached out with the Force, touching their minds together as his arms wrapped around the other man tightly.

The now familiar touch to Galen’s mind added a level of depth and intimacy to sex that rendered him utterly speechless. He closed his eyes for a moment and rested their foreheads together as he began to thrust into Will, slowly.

They breathed together, in time, pants slowly picking up pace as Galen’s hips worked into him, pressing hard against his prostate, working Will up into passionate frenzy fast. He touched the sides of Galen’s face with both hands, whispering his name into his mind.

“Will-” Galen moaned aloud, his thrusts speeding up as they became more passionate. He guided Will’s legs over his own broad shoulders, and began to plunge inside him, deep and vigorously.

“Oh, there-” Will managed to groan out, his body heating faster now as his knees were nearly bent to his chest.

“Harder?” Galen asked, in a husky voice broken by his hips slapping against Will’s perfect, round ass.

Will managed a nod as he reached for Galen’s shoulders, as if pulling him down was going to help get him deeper. Will felt the boil of tension and heat swell in his lower back and thighs for the third time that night.

Galen moaned, and gripped Will’s hips. He held him still, fingers digging into his flesh as he gave up control, utterly, and hammered into Will, with abandon.

Sweat rolled down the muscle of Galen’s back and chest and he felt himself begin to shake all over, heat climbing his spine. “Will-”

Writhing uncontrollably under Galen, Will let out a groan he couldn’t suppress, far too loud and yet not loud enough. He didn’t care who heard or who didn’t. His body set flame from within, spilling out over himself as everything blew hot.

Galen followed, stifling his shout against the side of Will’s throat as he came inside him. Galen’s hands and the soles of his feet tingled as he filled Will’s body, and their writhing forms came to rest.

Breaths caught, Will once again wrapped every limb around Galen, connecting them on all levels, mind, body, and soul. “I feel… like this was meant to happen.”

“It’s hard not to agree,” Galen whispered, and nuzzled Will’s jaw, “I have been waiting a long time.”

“Have you really?” Will grinned, whispering now where they had been loud, much louder, earlier.

“Yes,” Galen whispered back with a smile, and kissed Will, on the lips. “You captured my attention, awakened it, even.”

“Do you believe in fate?” Will asked, having had premonitions himself, leading here, but never sure when it would be, since the future was ever unfolding.

“I’m not certain. As a scientist, I’m skeptical. However, the Force is, as I’ve seen with my own eyes, real.” Galen admitted.

“Fate and the future aren’t set in stone,” Will explained, resting their heads together, still very much conjoined in every way possible. “But I believe our paths crossed for a reason.”

“I am beginning to believe that, as well,” Galen sighed, and nuzzled Will’s face. “Do you believe that kyber crystals choose a Jedi?”

“If it finds a worthy one,” Will chuckled lightly, running fingers through Galen’s hair. “I worked in a Kyber mine and never found one that wanted me.”

“Did you?” Galen asked, curiously, and snuggled Will again for a moment. “I have something upstairs for you,” he said, softly, with a strange feeling that his skepticism was going to be destroyed.

Will gave the other man a strange look. “What is it?”

“While I was constructing the crystalline core for the laser, there was a kyber crystal that was small, but perfect, one of the most beautiful specimens I have ever seen. It fell out of the array every time I installed it, as though the crystal were rejecting the project completely. I eventually pocketed it, and kept it. It would have been destroyed had I not, and I was struck by its clarity and perfection, it’s potential power. I’ve kept it hidden, upstairs.”

“And you want to give it to me?” Will asked, brows raised, honored that Galen would consider him worthy of such a gift.

“Yes,” Galen said, decisively, “you’re more than worthy.”

“That’s if the kyber crystal thinks so,” Will stated with a smile, more than thrilled that Galen might think he was, but it wasn’t up to them.

“Regardless, I’d like for it to be with you,” Galen said. The tacit ending was ‘after I die’, but he did not verbalize that much.

Will reached up and kissed Galen again, slowly, dragging his fingers down his face to  thumb over his cheekbones. “It would be an honor.”

Galen smiled, and flushed at that, then kissed Will slowly, and sweetly. “Shall we try to make it back to my place without being seen?” Galen asked, eager to give the crystal to Will.

“Let me clean up and then we can try our hand at being sneaky,” Will suggested, none too eager to be less close to the other man, but it would only be for a time.

“I suppose I should make myself less obvious, as well,” Galen said, with a sigh, and kissed Will again, slowly.

Will could not keep his hands off the older man, wanting nothing more than to crawl right back over him and just lay with him for the night. Instead, he pushed him over and then crawled off, and went to clean up in the fresher, coming back out dressed in casual clothes rather than his uniform.

Galen waited, and did the same, then came out wearing his uniform, and pushed his greying hair back into place. He looked at Will’s neck with a sigh, and touched a red spot. “I was a little carried away…”

“The uniform will cover that tomorrow,” Will assured Galen, and  touching his chest, and leaning up to kiss him once more.

Galen pulled Will closer, and kissed him slowly, utterly enamored with him as their lips melted together, once more. “Good, I’ll remember it’s there.”

Will cupped Galen’s face again, letting their lips brush, and tongues tangle. He’d never felt so at peace with someone, or himself before. “And then you’ll get to see it after hours tomorrow, too…”

Galen smiled at the thought, and let himself enjoy another moment with Will in his arms. “The hours at work will drag by even more slowly, in that case,” he sighed, nuzzling Will intimately.

“Well worth it,” Will sighed, quietly, just breathing with Galen for another moment, before he let go, to get to the door, palming it open.

Galen smoothed his uniform, and followed, quietly, looking both ways before they stepped into the thankfully empty hall. He pointed to the right, to the nearest lift, and headed toward it with Will.  Will smoothed out his shirt as they got in, not tempting fate with touching Galen now, though the urge was there, standing close enough to touch.   
  
The ride was only a second long, but Galen could still feel the magnetic pull toward Will in the small space of the lift, and stepped out when they reached his floor. He was nearly afraid Krennic would be there, waiting for him outside his door, but there was nothing.    
  
Galen opened his door, and kept it open for Will, then closed it quickly. It didn’t lock, not from the inside, at least. 

Will walked in, passing Galen, he touched his shoulder. “Does Krennic come by every night he’s on planet?”

“Some nights, not at all, sometimes he looks in on me twice in one evening,” Galen sighed, and went to his bed, then laid on the floor next to it and reached under the platform, searching with his hand for something hidden.

“And you two haven’t recently…” Will gestured, clearing his throat as he watched Galen’s backside move when he went searching.

Galen looked back at Will, and shook his head. “No, absolutely not,” he promised, solemnly, and went back to searching under the bed, then stood, with something in his hand. He looked at it, wistfully, and walked to Will. “Here, the crystal I saved from becoming the weapon’s heart,” Galen said, and opened his hand to present Will with a small, but absolutely perfect, colorless kyber crystal. 

Relieved, Will opened his palm to have the crystal set down in his palm, which began to glow, colorless at first. Will watched, amazed, as all the kyber crystals he’d come across has never once had this reaction to him. “It’s beautiful.”

Galen watched in awestruck silence as the crystal began to glow in Will’s palm. He’d never witnessed a kyber crystal as it reacted to a jedi, before, it was utterly beautiful. The light began to glow in shades of blue and green, colored like an ocean, like Will’s eyes.

“This is amazing,” Will said, aware he’d have to hid thing, as no one else could know what he was or who he was, or could be. He wrapped his fingers around the crystal, and leaned in to kiss Galen sweetly on the mouth.

Galen very, very gently touched Will’s hand as it held the crystal, and kissed Will back, shaking a little. It was true, and Galen could no longer deny it: kyber crystals were just as the Jedi legends said they were, and he and Will were fated to be together. The odds that the one crystal in the universe destined for Will was the one crystal Galen had saved away from the heart of the death star was … incalculable.    
  
The crystal hummed and glowed in Will’s palm when he kissed Galen, and warmed, pulsing like a beating heart as it came to life.    
  
The Force felt much stronger suddenly, like the very life between them, wrapping around them as they kissed, holding the crystal between them, between their hearts. Will hummed against Galen’s mouth, convinced more than ever that they were destined.   
  
For all he had lost, for all that had been taken from him, Galen knew that this had been given back to him. He kissed Will a little harder, locking their lips, and wrapping both arms around him as he felt not just lust, but love glow between them like a beacon in the dark. It was humbling for the scientist who had made his life’s work from dissecting and manipulating these crystals to see it’s power without any aid at all.

Will groaned, the crystal glowing brighter, as if feeding off of them, off of his own energy. He canted his head and slipped their lips together seamlessly, breathing a little harder already, taking a breath to whisper, “thank you.”

Galen opened his lips to reply, deeply shaken by what he felt, when he heard footsteps outside the door. “Hide-” he managed, just before three falls of a fist against the panel.

Will’s eyes went wide and then he was gone, quick, slipping into one of the closets, with Galen’s uniforms, and did his best to cover the crystal with both hands, snuffing out the light.

Galen answered the door, calmly. “Krennic,” he nodded,coolly, as the Lieutenant Commander stepped in, looking around as though expecting to find someone else with Galen.   
  
“Galen,” Krennic said, and turned to give Galen a warm look. “No guests tonight?” he asked, with a tilt of his head.   
  
“No. Just me,” Galen said, hands clasped behind his back.    
  
“Good. I was beginning to wonder if you were not taken with the young engineer,” Krennic said, pointedly.   
  
“You know very well that I’m hardly an easily won man,” Galen said, with the barest edge to his voice that made Krennic bristle a little, silently.

Krennic stepped closer, his white cloak flaring a little as he did. He took Galen’s jaw in one gloved hand, and made him look at him. “You would not lie to me, would you, Galen?”

Will shoved the crystal into his pocket as he listened, wishing he wasn’t here to witness nor hear this, but on the other hand, maybe he needed to see how they interacted. He closed his eyes, reaching out to touch Galen’s mind, to soothe, to feel his emotions, hoping to help ground the man.

Galen relaxed when he felt Will’s touch, and looked Krennic in the eye. “As you said before you had the last person I loved shot, I am a terrible liar,” Galen reminded Krennic, coldly, with an unwavering stare.   
  
“Ah, yes, Lyra …” Krennic sighed, and let Galen’s face go, but paced around him, “I remember when she turned your head, and suddenly … I was nothing.”   
  
“We were twelve, Orson,” Galen reminded Krennic, sternly. “What we were was two foolish boys, nothing more.”   
  
“You don’t believe I felt anything more than just curiosity, Galen?” Krennic asked, staring at him.   
  
“If you did, the way you manipulated me in our later years hardly supports your claim,” Galen sighed, which made Krennic laugh, and shake his head.   
  
“Galen, ever the scientist looking for evidence before you’ll believe anything…” he sighed, and stared at Galen silently, then took another step toward him, and touched Galen’s waist. “I remember the days before Lyra came along. You were happy…”

All Will could feel was Galen’s nerves, unable to see anything, he could only assume, and gently gestured his finger toward Krennic, a nudge, a flick of his ear, from an unknown source he’d never be able to understand. Will knew, otherwise, he couldn’t lash out, could not expose them.

Galen was frozen stock-still, barely breathing when Krennic flinched and looked behind him, confused, and distracted. “What was-”

He stepped away from Galen and started to look around the room, irritated at the strange interruption.   
  
“Your conscience, perhaps, if you still have one-” Galen said, in a slightly shaky voice, and stood by the door, his eyes dark and averted away from Krennic.   
  
Krennic looked at Galen as he hesitated in front of the closet that held Will, and looked stung. “Galen, everything I have done has been to help you. The Empire will be grateful for your work, you will live in comfort and respect for the rest of your days, I made certain of that! I could have left you to rot on that farm of yours where your mind would have wasted away unused!”   
  
“I was happy,” Galen said, quietly, but with dignity.    
  
“You were settling. I knew you would settle the second you began to fall for Lyra, she led you around by the nose an-”   
  
Galen slapped Krennic, across the face, hard. The sound rang through the room, with both of them breathing.   
  
“Do  _ not  _ speak ill of my dead wife,  _ Orson _ . Never. Again.”   
  
Krennic looked shocked, one hand against his slapped face as he stared at Galen, absolutely gob-smacked before he managed a little smile. “I don’t think you’ve ever struck a man in your life. You’re becoming bold in your old age, Galen. I can’t say I’m not a little proud of you.”   
  
They were close to getting done what they needed to get done, and Will knew he couldn’t blow it now but exposing himself. He leaned close to the door, listening, stroking Galen’s mind with his own. It hurt to hear him speak of his dead wife, but he wasn’t sure if it was heartache that grasped him or jealousy.   
  
Galen didn’t answer, just stared back at Krennic, jaw set.   
  
Krennic touched Galen’s shoulder, then his face, fondly, and let himself out. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Galen. Good night.”   
  
“Good night,” Galen said, softly, looking down at Krennic exited and the door closed behind him. His body sagged with relief when he was gone.

Once Will felt Krennic’s presence gone, he stepped out of the closet, looking relieved himself. “He’s hoping you’ll join him one day…”

Galen shook his head, and walked toward Will. “He has a talent for self-delusion,” Galen sighed, and wrapped his arms around Will, hugging him tightly.

“We’ll need to be careful,” Will whispered, quiet between them as he rested their faces together, already so attached.

“We do,” Galen nodded, and kissed Will on the lips. The most terrifying moment had been Krennic’s hand as it reached for the closet door, about to expose Willl. Will would have been killed, likely on the spot. Galen held Will a little tighter, head on his shoulder.

The crystal was safely stashed into his pocket for now, but it was no less dangerous because of it. Will could hold his own with a man like Krennic, though not using abrasive Force techniques might have proven difficult if he was faced with it.

Will held Galen, resting his head of his, and let out a deep sigh. “I’m fine, you’re fine…”

“If he had found you, he would have killed you, he’d need no other reason than that I hid you, and that you are a Jedi,” Galen said, squeezing Will with his arms, shaking a little.

“I would have been fine,” Will insisted, even if he wasn’t sure that was true. He kissed the side of Galen’s face, his temple. He didn’t need Krennic having a reason to question or accuse Galen either though.

“A blaster would still harm you,” Galen argued, and tilted his face into the kiss, then looked at Will, their noses brushing. He’d lost Lyra like that, he would die inside if he lost Will the same way.

“Was he armed?” Will asked, whisper soft as their eyes met, unable to look away from Galen.

“It’s not safe to assume he’s not, ever,” Galen cautioned, and rested his face against Will’s. “We should move fast, make the recording, find the pilot…”

“Let’s make the recording now,” Will insisted, and kissed Galen sweetly on the cheek, and then pulled away to set up the computer, hidden from the rest of the base with a few cracks and codes on Will’s end.

Galen paced, a little nervous. His stomach was still churning from the encounter with Krennic, and he was about to speak to Jyn for the first time in years. “Thank you,” he said, absent-mindedly, able to feel his palms begin to sweat, and his eyes sting with tears as he thought of his little girl.

Will got the whole thing set up, and turned to Galen. “Do you want to do this alone?”

Galen took a deep breath, and shook his head, “no, I … I’d like you to stay,” he said, and straightened, bracing himself. “I’m ready.”

Will nodded and then pushed the button to record, having put a small disc into the computer to capture it. Something he could convince the pilot to take Saw.

Galen stood before the recording device, and took a deep breath, then began, first to Saw and then his daughter.    
  
After a moment of pouring his heart out, of saying aloud everything he’d been keeping away from everyone around him (save for Will) for decades, Galen was silent, and ended the transmission, then looked up at the ceiling to try and control his breaking heart. It was hard to think of Jyn, of how she must have grown up, of the possibility of this never reaching her because she had died without them.

Will kept his head down until Galen was done, and then turned it off and took out the disc. “I can talk to the pilot if you want, or we can find him together.”

“We’ll go together, I think we have a better chance of convincing him, that way,” Galen said and sat down, heavily, utterly drained by the emotional wringer of the evening, good and bad.

“Now or tomorrow?” Will asked, touching Galen’s chest, over his heart.

“Can you tell if the pilot is awake?” Galen asked, and felt his aching heart calm at the touch. He rested his hand over Will’s, and closed his eyes. He wanted nothing more than to crawl in bed with Will, and sleep in his arms.

Will had only talked to the pilot the once, but he’d remembered his presence well, and sought him out with the Force, closing his eyes. After a long moment, he nodded his head. “He’s… on the other side of the compound. Hanger bay.”

“Now might be the best time, Krennic is assured that I am in for the evening, likely he has retired to his quarters,” Galen said, and squeezed Will’s hand.

Will smiled and nodded again, and went for the door, palming it open. He looked out and searched the area with the Force, and felt nothing. “We’re clear.”

Galen took the disc for the hologram, and pocketed it, then joined Will, hand against his back, and headed out with him. “May the Force be with us,” he sighed, under his breath, and gave Will a little smile. Galen was never one to say anything like that before seeing what he’d seen and feeling what he felt with Will.

Will smiled as they got onto the lift and headed down to the main floor. Guards were about, but no one seemed to care when Will mentioned they were going to work on a few things they had forgotten about, convincingly enough. Once they made it to the hanger bay, Will saw the pilot, Rook, and flagged the man down. Rook looked a little puzzled, but climbed down from what he was working on. “Can I … help you?” he asked, looking between Will and Galen.

Will walked a little closer, and put a hand on the man’s shoulder, looking him in the eye. “Are we right in assuming you… are less than happy about your post with the Empire?”

The pilot blanched, and looked from Will to Galen, and back again. “Look, I don’t know what you heard, but … I’m just a pilot, I…”   
  
Galen shook his head, “You’re in no trouble. We … need assistance from someone who feels the same way we do,” he said, quietly, under his breath.    
  
Rook stared at Galen, then relaxed a little and looked away. “I … just follow orders.”   
  
“So do I. We both turn a blind eye to what they’re making us do. You are the sort of man who feels guilty about that, so am I. I have a chance for you, a chance to make up for everything you’ve done, a chance to set it right, and clear your conscience,” Galen whispered, locking eyes with Rook, who looked as though he couldn’t look away from Galen’s conviction.   
  
“What … what would you … need?” he whispered, very quietly, hesitantly.

“You to go to Jedha, take a holo disc that Erso has and give it to Saw Guerrera,” Will answered, letting go of Rook. “Be insistent, as we need this disc to get to Erso’s daughter.”

Rook’s eyes widened at the name. “Saw … Guerrera? And you think he’s going to just … let me walk in there?” Rook asked, staring at the disc. 

Galen stepped closer, and locked eyes with Rook, again. “What is on this disc is enough to destroy the Death Star,” he whispered. The words hung in the air like smoke after an explosion.   
  
Very, very slowly, Rook reached out and took the disc, then held it in his palm, and bit his lower lip before he bent down to pretend to tie his boot while he slipped it in, against his heel. He stood, solemn, and nodded at Galen. “I’ll find a way,” he promised, quietly, and looked around to make sure they weren’t being watched.   
  
“Tell him it is from Galen Erso. He’ll know my name, that will get you in,” Galen insisted, quietly.   
  
“Okay. Galen Erso,” Rook repeated, and looked between them. “I thought you were going to ask me to smuggle the two of you out of here…”

“As nice as that sounds, this is far more important right now,” Will sighed, aching to touch Galen’s hand again, but opted to stand closer. “Maybe next time.”

“The disc is more important than risking it being captured,” Galen said, solemnly. Rook nodded, understanding, and looked around again, paranoid. “I head out in an hour. I’ll get it to Saw,” he promised, and shook Galen’s hand to cement the promise.

“Thank you,” Galen whispered back, as their hands parted, his eyes a little wet with gratitude at the pilot’s bravery.

Will gave a short nod and then took a step back, hands clasped behind him, leaving Rook to finish his pre-flight checks.

Galen stepped back, both more anxious now, and immensely relieved. They’d done what they could do. It was out of his hands, now. He and Will walked away, slowly, wind from a few engines ruffling Galen’s hair as he looked out into the night sky at the end of the platform. “You’re certain he’s trustworthy?” Galen whispered, as they walked.

“Who else can we trust? I felt… need from him, for something better for everyone, not just himself,” Will whispered as they walked away, shoulder to shoulder.

“That will hopefully be enough,” Galen whispered back. He wanted to be in Will’s arms, again, to rest and feel as safe as he possibly could while his death warrant had been sent out. It would be worth the sacrifice, the Empire had to fall.

“Come to my room?” Will asked, hushed, able to feel Galen’s need for support and comfort, and wanting to do just that.

“I would love to,” Galen whispered back, with a soft smile over at Will, and a golden glow in his dark eyes. He was falling for Will, quickly.

The smile that lit Will's face reached his eyes quietly as they strolled back to the lift. Once in, he chanced his fingers brushing Galen’s once.

Galen smiled to himself, and did the same in return, just once before the doors opened and they stepped out, headed back to Will’s room. The disc was on it’s way to Jedha, now. Should Krennic kill him, Galen knew that his work was done.

Will knew, for the both of them, he had to hope for the best, but they both knew the consequences of their actions now, should they be found out. Even more reason to stay close. Will palmed his door open and waited for Galen to enter and then did the same. He wrapped his arms around him as the door shut, and held him.

Galen let out a heavy sigh, and held Will to him with both arms, his face against Will’s throat as he fisted the back of his uniform. “Thank you. Thank you for doing that with me.”

“The least I could do,” Will whispered and moved them back toward the bed, slowly.

“I was tempted to urge you to go with the pilot,” Galen confessed, quietly, and sat on the bed, holding Will’s hands as he looked up at him. 

“I wouldn’t have gone. I’m here until the end, whenever that might be,” Will said, not afraid to die, not afraid to get his hands dirty. He’d done a lot of running in the past, but all the guilt  was catching up to him.

Galen pulled Will down to the bed with him, and laid down, arms around him as his dark eyes searched Will’s face. “You’re young. You have an entire life ahead of you.”

“So do a lot of people,” Will whispered,  curling a leg over Galen’s hip where they laid together. “My life hasn’t meant much until now, having found you.”

Galen smiled, sadly, and touched Will’s face as he stared into his eyes. “Even if, even when they kill me, I count myself saved, no matter what happens.”

Will sighed at that, and kissed Galen softly, touching his face as they gazed at each other in the low lighting the quarters took on for sleep times. The inevitable was coming, a storm that was brewing long before Will got here.

Galen kissed Will back, snuggling in closer to him as he did. He felt … lighter since convincing Rook to take the message. It was up to the pilot now, and out of the scientist’s hands, finally. “We have … days, perhaps.”

“Then we’ll take them one day at a time and… make of them what we can,” Will reassured, quietly, touching Galen’s handsome face. “No matter what, I will do everything I can to protect you.”

“I’m sorry that I need protecting,” Galen sighed, softly. “I have never been a fighter. What was it you did to Krennic when he came to my quarters?”

Will chuckled softly, a smile on his young, handsome face. “I flicked his ear. I could have done worse, but not without giving myself away.”

“It worked, you distracted him,” Galen whispered, and kissed Will’s throat. “My hero.”

“You’re easily impressed?” Will asked, amused, craning his head back to expose his neck to Galen, relishing any feel of his lips there.

“Of course I am,” Galen whispered, and kissed his way up to Will’s lips to kiss them, as well. “You managed to distract him without giving yourself away, that was  _ clever _ . I admire that more than brute strength.”

“I’ve learned a few tricks being on the street,” Will explained as he smiled against Galen’s lips. “Never get caught.”

“For how long did you live on the street?” Galen asked. He felt like Will knew his past, now, intimately, but the reverse was not quite true.

“A little after my mother died, I got evicted from the apartment we lived in. I was about sixteen,” Will answered, more than happy to share aspects of his life, to let them get closer. “So, about five years, until I had steady enough work to get another place.”

“On what planet?” Galen asked, as he stroked his hand through Will’s hair, slowly, happy to listen to the story of Will’s life. “What was your mother’s name?”

“Coruscant,” Will said, aware that they had likely been in the same cities at the same time, at least the same planet during the same times. “Jayla Darteen.”

They had likely been, but in very different circles of each of them. “What was she like? Kind? Proud, I imagine…”

“She was, but always sorry she couldn’t do more for me, or let me go and be what I could have been,” Will said with a little sigh. “I never blamed her for it.”

“In a different time, I’m sure you would have had all the training you needed, although you seem to do well without it. Do you look like your mother, or your father?” Galen asked, as he touched the side of Will’s face.

“My father mostly,” Will chuckled, thinking about that. “She was always surprised no one noticed, but no one was looking either.”

“The Jedi are bound to a life of chastity, are they not?” Galen asked, thoughtfully. “Obviously, there are exceptions.”

“They are supposed to. My mother said it was his rebellious stage, just before getting serious into the training. They’re trained young, so for him to want to know other things, it doesn’t abnormal,” Will reasoned, not sure he could do it himself.

“It seems rather extreme,” Galen agreed, softly, and kissed Will’s forehead. “I’m glad that your father agreed, at one time.”

“Temptations are said to lead to the Dark Side,” Will explained, but shook his head, curl falling over his eyes. “I don’t really believe that, I think there’s a moral grey area.”

“Temptations? But, how can love lead to the dark side?” Galen asked, softly, and brushed the fallen curl out of Will’s blue eyes with a touch of his hand. “I would have thought love was central to the light?”

“The idea of love and it controlling you, I think, is what it means. I’m sure you’ve heard of Anakin Skywalker and his fall,” Will said, much more quietly, as if the name were almost forbidden. “He was, from what I hear, obsessed with saving his wife from a fate that wasn’t written yet. Let it consume him.”

“The Jedi are not allowed to have families because they can be used against them…” Galen mused with a sigh. “Perhaps scientists should live by the same law.”

“I think over all, families are dangerous, but without  them, where would the galaxy be?” Will reasoned, pressing his palm in over Galen’s heart.

“If you had the chance to train, on the condition of celibacy, would you take it?” Galen asked, and laid his own hand over Will’s, keeping it there.

“I don’t know. Before or after meeting you?” Will asked, coyly.

Galen laughed, softly. “After,” Galen sighed, and laced their fingers together. 

“No. I think I’m doing just fine with what I know, and I wouldn’t want to give you up.”

“You may have to give me up, regardless,” Galen whispered, and kissed Will’s cheek, softly. “No matter what happens to me, Will, I want you to move forward.”

Will knew there were big risks, and they barely knew each other, but he had fallen quite quickly for the older man. “I can’t promise… you’ve dug a hole in my heart…”

Galen’s lips parted, just a little, surprised, and yet … he knew he should not be. “So have you. I … never thought I could become attached again, yet, here I am.”

Will leaned in and bit Galen’s bottom lip softly. “We’re both fools then, I guess…”

“Utter fools,” Galen whispered back, happily. He was in love with Will, at the worst possible time, but there was nothing to be done about it. “I cannot bring myself to regret our foolishness, at least not yet.”

“Nothing to regret. If this is all we share, then… so be it,” Will agreed, utterly taken with Galen, unlike anyone else he’d ever had the pleasure to know or be with.

“In a perfect world, I’d like a future … with you,” Galen admitted, almost shyly.

Swallowing, all Will could do was kiss Galen for that; long, slowly, and perfectly sweet. They wouldn't make it, or least not Galen, unless they got lucky.

Galen kissed Will back, slowly, and held on as tightly as he could, fingers twisted in his hair as they wound their tongues together.

Will whispered Galen’s name almost like prayer, desperate to hold on to everything they had, to not stay here, to not be found out. Will wrapped every limb he could around Galen as they kissed, slowly.

If they were lucky, Krennic would be pulled away to the Death Star, and Galen’s betrayal would not be uncovered until it was too late, and the Death Star exploded, with Krennic on it. Hope was all they had, now. “Will-” he whispered, between kisses.

Will ran calloused fingers down Galen’s throat softly. “Here.”

Galen swallowed, and kissed Will again, shivering at the touch. “I’ve been so lucky to find you,” he whispered back, and rolled over him with a kiss.

“I promise you will always have me, until we part this life,” Will whispered, kissing Galen harder, deeper, hands tangled in his silvery hair.   
  
Galen kissed back, the same way, both arms around Will, clinging to him as they kissed, determined to make the most of every second they had in private before the consequences of his betrayal reached him, as he knew they would, one way, or another.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the end. We were going to continue but thought it best to leave it here. Maybe we'll write a sequel someday!  
> Please join us on [Tumblr!](constructfairytales.tumblr.com) for updates on all our fics or send us a message!

The next day passed as quietly as either Galen or Will could have hoped. Krennic had been called away, and the couple spent every second they could spare in each other’s arms. Galen had just pulled Will’s uniform top off, after their work day was finished when there was a sharp knock at the door.   
  
Galen’s eyes widened, and he gave Will his shirt back, and signaled for him to hide as he straightened his shirt and fixed his mussed hair, then answered the door, taking a message handed to him as he closed it.    
  
His heart sank.    
  
“Director Krennic requests that my engineering team and I meet him on the platform. He is returning to Eadu, at once.”

 Will hid behind the door, listening, and the second the man was gone again, he gave Galen a look. This was it. It had been days, after all. 

 “You go out, I’ll be hidden, but watching.”  
  
Galen walked to Will, slowly, and stared at him before he cupped Will’s face with both weathered hands. “Promise me that you will not put yourself at risk, Will.”

 Will swallowed, slowly, and nodded. “Yes.  I promise.”

Galen took a deep breath, and let it out, slowly, then kissed Will, deeply, aware that it might be for the last time. His hands trembled against the sides of Will’s face, then slipped into his hair, clutching softly. Will touched Galen’s wrist with his fingers, holding him there here as their lips slipped together.

 “It's going to be fine.”

 “It will,” Galen sighed, lying. He was better at lying, now, glad for it, for Will’s sake. “I will see you, later…”

 Will kissed him again, one more time, hard on the mouth and then let go. “You will.”

 Galen nodded, and stepped away with a sinking heart. “I’ll find you, afterward,” he said, uncertain there would be an afterward. They both needed to believe it.

 Galen stole another kiss, and let himself out, walking to the platform, slowly.

 Will followed not long  after Galen left. He secured a ship, ready to go if things went sideways fast. He watched from the landing deck as Krennic arrived and proceeded to speak to Galen and his team, of which Will should have been with right now, but he’d promised Galen he’d keep out of sight.

 Krennic’s ship landed in the rain on the platform, and the director himself walked out, and approached Galen, who stood alongside him, with a neutral expression. 

 They called the engineers forward, and the engineers, without Will, stepped closer.  Krennic seemed to note this, and sent a stormtrooper to locate the missing engineer. The older men looked proud, and then shocked when Krennic raised his voice. “One of you has betrayed the Empire!”

 He threatened to shoot one, and then all of them, giving his men the ready to fire when Galen stepped in front of them. “No! No, don’t shoot! They had nothing to do with it … it was me. I sent the message,” he admitted. 

 Krennic struck Galen, hard, with the back of his hand, and Galen was knocked to his knees on the rainy deck.

 It was all Will could do not to jump out, but he kept his promise, watching silently, hands clenched at his sides when he felt the Force, not through his own glowing crystal strapped around his neck, under his shirt, but from another, not too far from him. He searched through the rain to find the source, unable to see much, and then… there were fighters, Rebellion ones, starting to shoot up the landing pad.

 Chaos descended on them, suddenly, and the platform became a war zone. People scattered as rebellion ships flew in, and Galen fell, not moving amid the fray. Will quickly got to his feet and started to run for Galen, but a girl, whom he realized was Galen’s daughter, was there first, talking to him, for what seemed like far too long. Galen fell still and Will’s breath caught when the girl ran off with another man, clearly thinking her father dead.

 Will reached Galen then, everyone else preoccupied, and felt him out in the Force, able to feel his life source. He managed to drag Galen back into the hangar bay, to the ship he overrode the system on, and got Galen strapped in.

 “Just hang on, Galen,” he whispered, and went to the controls, to get them off the planet and out of the system.  
  
Galen was ashy and unconscious, cold from the rain. It was easy to believe that he was, in fact, dead where he slumped back in the co-pilot’s seat. The only motion from Galen’s body was the dripping of cold water from the ends of his hair, but his heart was still beating, just barely. He was fighting inside, determined to stay alive now that he had someone to live for: Jyn was alive, Jyn did not hate him, and Will was waiting. He saw them, the two people who mattered to him, as though they were at the end of a long, hole in the ground down which he’d fallen, and he struggled to make it up to them, but kept falling back down with every attempt, exhausted.

 Ship en route, Will went to Galen’s side and toweled him off, and then put a blanket over him to warm him through. He brushed long strands of silver from his eyes, and kissed his forehead, reaching to soothe his mind, and put him at rest to heal.  
  
In Galen’s mind, the light from the surface became the same blue as Will’s crystal, and he felt calm, no longer frantic. The space around him brightened, glowing, and he could see Jyn and Will by his side, not far away, waiting calmly for him to join them. He tried to reach out to Will with one hand, to speak to him, but felt an incredible heaviness in his limbs and jaw, unable to move either.   
  
In the ship, Galen’s fingers twitched, just a little, curling against the blanket as he managed to take a deep breath of air. He’d been knocked back by a blast, and hit the platform floor with great force, which had knocked him unconscious. His thigh was burned through his pants from the explosion, some of the fabric melted to his flesh, but the pain was turning cool, disappearing in the blue haze Will had given him.

Galen was in bad shape, but all Will could do was all he knew how to do, and healing him to the best of his knowledge in the Force. It wasn’t much, but until got them back into safe space, with a doctor or a bacta tank, this was what they had. He pressed his forehead against Galen’s and sighed, closing his own eyes as he wandered into his headspace.   
  
A moment later, Galen’s dark eyes fluttered open, and he looked at Will’s blurry shape as it became clear. “Will …” he whispered, his voice weak and rough at once.

 “Shh,” Will hushed,  opening his eyes to look at Galen, keeping himself together by a thin thread, relieved to see the other man awake, at least.  
  
“Will-” Galen whispered, and managed to touch his chest, weakly. “Jyn?”

 “She got away,” Will whispered, hand over Galen’s where it rested. “She was with the Resistance.”

“Safe?” Galen asked, still cold, despite the blanket, but drier now, and starting to warm as he woke up. 

 Will wrapped his arms around Galen, and pressed his forehead to his. “I think so.”  
  
Galen relaxed, and then looked Will over, concerned. “You’re not hurt?” he asked, and rested their faces together with a little sigh. Strangely enough, joy began to seep through his veins. He had been certain that he was walking to his death … and they’d managed to get away, they were still together. “Are you sure I’m not dead and this is some sort of strange afterlife?”

 “No, I’m very much alive with you,” Will whispered, voice rough with emotion. “I was afraid I was going to lose you though in the crossfire.”  
  
Galen smiled a little, with pale lips, and swallowed hard. “I love you,” he whispered back, with wet eyes. “I wanted to tell you before I left, but I was sure that it would make losing me harder for you, so I didn’t say it. I’m sorry, Will.”

 “Don’t be sorry,” Will whispered once again, this time against Galen’s mouth, touching his chin with one finger. “I love you, too. I didn’t say it before because I knew I’d see you again.”

Galen smiled at that, and a tear rolled over his cheek before he kissed Will for that, emotion swelling in his chest as he managed to wrap one arm around him, holding him close as they sealed their words with a long, warm press of their lips.    
  
Galen closed his hand in the back of Will’s shirt as they kissed, and tilted his head to lock their lips.

 Will wrapped himself around the older man a little more, all but pulling him into his lap. He didn’t care if he got damp from it, he pressed in closer and kissed Galen passionately. “I’ll always protect you,” he whispered.

 Pain from moving his burnt leg shot through the soothing haze of the force, but Galen poured it into kissing Will, clutching at him, astonished and overjoyed that they had both made it. “We’re wanted men now…”

 “Too bad I guess, we might have to go join the Resistance,” Will whispered softly, against Galen’s lips, trying to distract him from the pain the best he could.

 Galen smiled, and brushed his lips against Will’s, softly. “I think we already have, given what we’ve managed. How do we find them now without giving ourselves away to the Empire? Jedha is gone, they used the Death Star to eradicate all of it. Saw is gone…”

 “We have to find them. The Rebels, their base,” Will said, wondering if he could reach out that far, but he wasn’t as good at this Jedi thing as he wanted to be.  
  
“What’s more, we’re in a stolen Imperial ship, they are likely to shoot at us, if we find anyone. Perhaps our priority is to find somewhere to hide,” Galen sighed, and looked out at the dark vacuum beyond, dotted with stars. It was something he was not certain he’d ever see again.

 “I’m good at hiding,” Will said, quietly. “I’ll find a spot. Don’t worry.”  
  
“Thank you, Will,” Galen whispered, and rested his palm against the side of Will’s face, adoringly. “Is there tracking on board? We should disable it.”

 “I hacked everything and disabled it already,” Will explained, and stood, going to get the medical kit now that they were far enough out. He didn’t know much about fixing injuries,but he could try.  


Galen nodded, relieved, and looked down at his injury with a sigh. Medicine was not his specialty, but he could tell he would need care, at some point. “Was Krennic killed?” Galen asked.

 “No, he got away, too,” Will sighed, wishing he had done something more, but his feelings for Galen had pushed him to save the older man rather than let him die.  
  
“I have no need for revenge,” Galen said, simply, and looked at Will, again. “But if he does not already believe me dead, he will search relentlessly in order to punish me for my ‘betrayal’,” Galen said, with a shake of his head. 

 “I’m certain he thinks you’re dead, just as your daughter does,” Will explained, and brought the kit over to look it over, and then peeled back Galen’s blanket to look at his legs.

 “Jyn believes I am dead?” Galen asked, frowning at the thought. She must have thought he had died in her arms, which would have been the best death Galen could ask for. “Did you see her?” he asked, with a wave of pride. She looked well, and strong, full of Lyra’s spirit.

 “I did,” Will said with a smile, and peeled back layers of burnt clothing from Galen’s thighs and calves. He applied a balm from the kit, something to keep it from hurting, healing it a little until they could get medical attention.  
  
“She’s grown now,” he smiled, focusing on his brief glimpse of his daughter to distract him from the work Will did, “and strong.” His eyes went a little wet with pride at the memory. “I used to call her my Stardust.”

 “That’s cute,” Will said, quietly, looking up at Galen for a moment, more than aware in that moment just how much older the other man was from him, and yet it did nothing to deter him. He slathered the wound and dressed it, lightly.

Galen kissed Will’s cheek for helping him, and brushed his hand over the back of Will’s neck. “I might have died, had you not brought me with you. I owe you my life.”

 “You owe me nothing of the sort.” Will set the kit aside and leaned up to kiss Galen’s lips softly, just happy he was alive and well, that he had thought ahead to get them off planet.  
  
“You’re a hero, my hero, anyhow, if not the Empire’s,” Galen laughed, and laid his hand over Will’s chest. “Your father would be proud, I think.”

 “Maybe,” Will said, moving some of Galen’s hair from his eyes. “Didn’t know him, I couldn’t tell you.”

 “If he fought against the Empire in his youth, I cannot imagine how he would not be,” Galen assured Will, and kissed him, again, then let their foreheads rest together. “Now, where shall we hide?” As much as Galen wanted to hold Will, and never let him out of his arms, they had to take cover, and quickly.

 Will sighed, but didn't argue. “I've set course for a neutral planet for now. Less obvious. We can hide out there and get you healed.”

 “I’ll trust your judgement,” Galen agreed, and rubbed his hand over Will’s chest, reluctant to let him go again. 

 “Good,” Will said quietly and kissed Galen softly again.

 Galen leaned back in his chair, dazed and relieved, and closed his eyes, doing his best to block out the pain. Will noticed, and stood again, going through the kit to see what he could find for the pain, but without Bacta there was no real relief for him. Instead, Will touched his forehead with his fingers and closed his eyes, trying to relieve the pain the best he could, by taking some of it for him.

 Galen started softly at the touch, and opened his eyes, then relaxed. “I’m alright, Will. It could be much worse,” he said, but had to admit, it was an immense relief from the burning in his thigh, like being laid down in a bath of cool water.

 Will didn’t answer, lost in the trance he’d put himself into, slumped slightly against the chair, his own leg started to burn, but he could only imagine how Galen felt.

 Galen watched Will, and leaned closer to touch his hand. “Will, what are you doing?”

 Will hummed a response, fingers wrapping around Galen’s.  
  
“Will?” Galen asked, worried at how deep into a trace Will was, unsure how he was taking the pain away. 

 He didn’t take all the pain, but Will took the brunt of it for Galen as they slipped through hyperspace. He opened his eyes after ten minutes, unable to do much more. “Better?”  
  
“Yes … how do you manage that?” Galen asked, with concern in his eyes at how much better Will made him, there had to be some … price to that. 

 “Take a little bit from you, help you carry it,” Will said, aware it wouldn’t last too long, but if they could both rest for now, it should be fine later.  
  
“Don’t take my pain,” Galen sighed, and squeezed Will’s hand with his own as he leaned closer, “I don’t want that for you.”

 Will smiled, and crawled into share the seat with Galen, half off of it. “It’s okay. It won’t last forever.”

 “So long as it won’t last forever,” Galen sighed, and leaned against Will in the large seat as they hurtled through space. Thankfully, the seat was large, and comfortable, likely made for some high-ranking officer, now that Galen noticed it.   
  
Very high ranking.  
  
“What … ship is this?” Galen asked, curiously.

 Will chuckled. “I think it’s one of Krennic’s, we’ll have to ditched it as soon as possible.” Then again, as he looked around it, he was starting to see differences from most of the Imperial’s designs, as though this one were made for someone specific. “Oh second thought…”  
  
The ship was far from miniscule, and very well equipped, for someone larger than either of them. Galen looked behind them, and noted the polished, black floor against dark walls. “This is … far from regulation.”

 Will hadn’t time to really look over what the ship had, he assumed it was what they all had. He stood, slowly, pain ebbing at his leg, but he forced it back down, at bay. “You know, rumor has it that Lord Vader has high demands of his ships… _needs_.”

 Galen blinked, and looked around, alarmed. “You …  You stole _Lord Vader’s_ ship?” Galen asked, astonished, and a little alarmed and impressed, simultaneously. He stood, unsteadily, and looked around, his mind working at the details. “The size of the chairs would hold his stature, I saw him in person, once. It was … unpleasant.”

 “I’ve never met him,” Will said, but he hardly seemed too worried at the moment. He’d disabled the tracking and communications, for the time being. “They’ll probably assume the ship was blown with the rest of the facility.”  
  
“He won’t be able to sense it, if he has a personal connection to it?” Galen asked, pushing himself to his feet out of the large, black chair, and limped toward the doorway to look around.

 “Maybe if he’s close, or has something on board,” Will shrugged, “I’m not really sure.” Will peeked his head around the corner, a long hall there lead to room, locked up.  
  
Galen limped to the door, and found it locked. He looked around, and pulled a small metal panel from the wall, then re-arranged a few wires, and the door slid open. “I … think we _have_ stolen Vader’s ship,” Galen announced to Will, looking inside the room with raised eyebrows.

 Will walked over and looked inside, eyes wide. “Wow,” he said, slipping into the room, a light flickered on and a huge bacta tank glowed to life. “Useful… Luck is on our side.”

 Galen walked to the tank, slowly, and inspected it, then pressed a button to start the tank’s gentle swirling. “How long until we reach our destination?” he asked, and eyed what looked like a spare set of enormous black gloves in a dark case next to the tank.

 “A few hours at least,” Will said, aware that was just long enough for Galen to get in the tank and heal up a bit.  
  
Galen shrugged, and began to strip off his uniform shirt, happy to be done with it. “That should give me a head start. If you do find someone is following us, please tell me so that I am not caught naked,” he joked, and tried to peel his pants off, but stopped when he realized the fabric was fused against his burn.

 “You think I’d let anyone else see you naked but me?” Will grinned, and leaned to kiss Galen’s lips once. “You might not get those off very well… burnt on.”

“I’ll have to soak them,” Galen said, and kissed Will back, then smiled a little through the pain. “You wouldn’t?” he asked, as he pressed the button to open the tank, and climbed the built in stairs to dangle his legs in, then lowered himself as the tank began to fill.

 Will gave Galen the mask to put on so he didn’t have to breathe in the fluids as they started to fill the rest of the tank. “Soaking in there should help. And no. I wouldn’t.”  
  
Galen smiled, his dark eyes crinkling at the outer edges at Will as the soothing fluids climbed to his waist. “You _are_ my hero,” he teased, gently. 

 “Just yours,” Will said, accepting his fate to be something he never thought he’d be.  
  
The fluid of the tank climbed Galen’s chest. His leg felt much better now, soothed by the swirling waters, and he relaxed. “I’ve never used one of these, they’re quite nice,” he sighed, and leaned back against the wall of the tank as he strapped the mask on over his mouth and nose. The water began to cover his chest, and Galen started to float.

 “Neither have I, come to think of it. Never had to anyway,” Will said, aware he wouldn’t be heard here in a little while, but he’d stay close anyway until Galen looked comfortable.  
  
“It’s rather like a nice bath,” Galen said, through the mask, and touched the glass as the fluid covered his face, and head, which set his hair floating in an ethereal way around his face as he looked at Will through the glass.

 Will touched the glass on the other side, their fingers just over each other, almost touching if not for the barrier. “You’ll feel much better in a few hours.”  
  
Galen nodded, able to hear Will’s words, even if they were muffled. He took a deep breath through the mask, and sighed, utterly comfortable as he floated in the womb-like atmosphere. 

 Once Will was sure Galen was fine, he left, leaving the door propped open so he could hear him, and went to check the controls. So far nothing, everyone in space seemed… preoccupied, it seemed. Hours passed, and Will finally went to check on Galen as they approached the atmosphere of the planet they’d take residency on for now.  
  
Galen was asleep in the tank, floating peacefully. Even through the fluid, it was obvious his burn was improving with time in the healing waters of the tank. He breathed slowly, into the mask, strangely graceful as he slept.

 Given his state, Will left him be for another hour, getting the ship clearanced in and docking into a small port. Once that was done, he went to drain the tank, and grabbed a towel from a linen closet in the fresher.

Galen woke when the water began to drain. His eyes opened, and he looked at Will through the glass after a moment’s confusion, then stood as the water receded, and removed the mask when it was below his neck. “We’re already landed?”

 “Yes, you’ve been in there four hours,” Will said, going up the ladder to hand Galen the towel.  
  
Galen pushed his hair back from his face, like this, it was slick and shiny, and made his features even more dramatic. “Four? I must have needed the rest, it felt like minutes,” Galen said, and took the towel to dry himself.

 “You’re looking much better,” Will replied, and started to help Galen dry off. “I found some clean clothes, might be big.”

Galen pulled himself up, and out of the bacta tank, and lowered himself to the steps, next to Will, towel around his shoulders. “Thank you, it’s only a dull throb now,” Galen said, and looked down at his leg, which was mostly healed already, the healed skin a fresh pink. 

 “Lucky we got this ship,” Will said, and handed Galen the clothes, soft and clean.  
  
“A strange stroke of luck, yes,” Galen said, and kissed Will on the lips, gratefully, then descended the stairs to the floor of the bacta tank room, and started to dry off before he pulled the clothes on. They were dark, and a little large, but fit him well-enough, and showed off his long legs much more than his Imperial uniform had.

 “It’ll do until we manage to find clothing here,” Will stated, having changed into something as well, a little smaller, likely for a servant that Vader kept with him.  
  
Galen watched as Will changed, and admired him as he dressed. “You are -” Galen sighed, deeply, “impossibly handsome in anything you wear.”

 Will smirked over at Galen and then stepped closer, touching his chest, and leaning in to kiss his wet lips. “You’re just trying to get in my pants again,” he teased.  
  
“We are free, the galaxy is ours to roam, and I am nearly without pain. I would be an idiot if I were not trying to get into your pants, and my tendency not to be an idiot is well-documented, at least in academic circles,” Galen laughed, hands on Will’s waist.

 Will smiled against Galen’s mouth, chuckling. “We can waste a few minutes more inside here if you want before venturing out.”  
  
“If you’re certain we are safe…” Galen whispered, and sucked Will’s lower lip as he wrapped both arms around him, his fatigue and aches fixed by his soak in the tank. 

 “We are, it’ll be some time before anyone documents the ship,” Will said, giving in Galen’s mouth as he kissed him hard, tongues twining together.  
  
Galen hummed, and let his hands wander to Will’s hips, then backed him to the nearest wall, and pinned him there, gently as they kissed. Galen’s hands wandered to Will’s ass, caressing the curve as he ran his palms down to Will’s thighs.

 “Might have thought you missed me in there,” Will groaned, biting Galen’s lips as his pulse started pick up. His hands wandered to the front of his pants, palming down his growing erection.

 “I did miss you,” Galen whispered, and rolled his hips against Will’s palm, slowly. “I dreamed of you, as I always do,” he confessed, between kisses.

 “Still love me?” Will grunted, grasping Galen’s cock through the thin fabric.

 “More than ever,” Galen whispered, and moaned against Will’s mouth before he began to kiss Will’s throat, biting it lightly.

 “Good-” Will managed, breathing harder as he undid Galen’s pants and reached inside for skin to skin contact.

 Galen bit Will’s throat, a little harder, and palmed Will’s cock through his borrowed pants while he sucked his earlobe, and undid the fly of the pants, guiding Will out through it. “Handsome boy …” Galen whispered.

 A splay of goosebumps spread over his skin as Galen said that, making Will clutch at him harder, working his cock over faster.   
  
Galen squeezed Will, and stroked him, twisting his hand around Will before he sank to his knees, and licked the head of Will’s cock, slowly, then swallowed him down with a moan. Galen looked up at Will for an instant, mouth full, then closed his eyes and sucked.

 Hands dropped to Galen’s hair, Will tugged on the wet strands with a lewd sounding moan, leaning his shoulders back against the wall, hips jutted out. “Galen-”  
  
Galen moaned around Will, and rubbed the sensitive head of Will’s cock against the smooth, warm inside of his cheek before he sucked again, slowly and sensually. He undid the button holding Will’s pants closed at the top, and let them sag around Will’s sleek thighs, palming them as he began to bob his head, slowly.

 If Galen kept this up, he’d be coming before he meant to, worked up fast despite how often they’d done it in the past prior. Will tightened one fist in silver strands, toes curling in his boots as desire pooled in his lower back.  
  
Galen loved the taste of Will, the way having Will in his mouth saturated every single one of his senses. He groaned when Will fisted his hair, and dragged his fingertips over Will’s balls as he pulled back to suck at the tip for just a moment, looking up at his lover.

 “I need you,” Will admitted, though not sure what they had around here that would work, he’d try anything at this point, wanting to feel Galen inside of him again.  
  
Galen pulled off of Will, breathlessly, and pulled him down to his knees to kiss him hard. Galen’s mouth was warm, and salty already from the bit of pre-come at the tip of Will’s cock that he’d spread with his tongue. “Need you, too…”

 Will tasted himself on Galen’s tongue, sucking hard on the wet muscle as he kicked his pants to the side and wrapped strong arms around the older man. “Take me.”

Galen pushed Will onto his back, on the floor, and stripped his new shirt off of Will’s gorgeous body, then crawled down between his thighs, again, and tipped his hips up, spreading Will’s legs over his shoulders. Galen kissed the spread cleft of Will’s ass, then circled his tongue around his pucker before plunging it inside him  with a groan. 

 Will all but fell apart then, unable to help the spread of his fingers against the floor, the way his toes curled, or the moan on his lips of Galen’s name. “Oh, hell…”

 Galen felt desire for Will that melted him from the inside out, like a slow-burning fire that melted a wax figure around it to reveal what was hiding beneath. Galen moaned against Will, the sound low and vibrating, and dug his fingertips into the flesh of Will’s ass as he began to plunge his tongue into Will, slowly at first, working him open with every slow, wet press of it. 

 “You are… so good at that-” Will managed, struggling to find breath and words, everything failing him all at once. He rocked his hips down against Galen’s tongue, taking him in, wetting him from the inside out.  
  
Galen managed another low moan, and curled the tip of his tongue against a sensitive spot inside Will’s body, pressing the muscle against him there for a moment before he let it meander on, over nerve after nerve, sending explosions of pleasure up their pathways with every twist of his tongue.

 Will’s legs spread to the sides of Galen’s form, hips arching to get every inch of his tongue inside of him, panting ragged breaths as the nerves there were toyed with and exploited. “Galen-”  
  
Galen gripped Will’s cock with one hand, and squeezed, stroking slowly as he pressed his tongue in for another slow pass inside Will’s body, then pulled away, panting. He crawled closer, kneeling between Will’s legs, and Galen’s stomach flexed as he pressed himself inside Will, slowly. “Will-”

 Relaxing, Will lifted himself to take Galen in, flushed pink and sweating already. His mouth hung open as he gazed dazzling blue eyes up into the man’s honey colored ones. “There-”  
  
Galen’s hips rocked as he sank into Will, hips flush with Will’s ass, and began to rock inside him as they stared at one another, “there…” Galen echoed, in a deep voice, and began to stroke Will again, slowly.

 A coil of heat started to build again, tight in his core, and Will held fast to Galen’s shoulders, pulling him over his lithe form more and more with every rock of hips deep inside. “Perfect, Galen…” he groaned, writhing.

 There was something about finally being off of Eadu, away from the Empire, even if they were on the floor of Vader’s personal ship, they had escaped, together. It was heady, and liberating. Galen bent over Will, bending Will’s lithe form nearly in half as he began to pound into his body, harder, the passion blooming between them like light pouring through darkness.

 Huffing, groaning, and panting Galen’s name over and over, Will felt the swell overcome him, coming in what felt like waves that crashed against Galen’s, mingling and tainting them both with each other, spilling across his own belly as he throbbed around Galen’s cock.  
  
Galen cried out, wordlessly when Will came, and he felt himself begin to lose control. He hammered himself into Will, vigorously, sweating as he began to come, with a sudden gasp of Will’s name on his lips as Galen went still and trembled, gasping against Will’s neck as he climaxed with dizzying intensity.

 Will wrapped every limb around Galen, holding him close as they recovered, heartbeat to heartbeat. “I love you.”  
  
Galen closed his eyes, and buried his face in Will’s sweaty, hot throat for a moment, their chests heaving together. “I love you, Will,” Galen whispered, and kissed Will’s ear.

 Will rubbed Galen’s slick back, both of them naked from their throws of passion, and he’d never  been so happy to steal a ship before in his life, sure that the tank had saved  Galen. “I’m glad I saved you.”  
  
Galen smiled, and nuzzled Will’s face, softly. “I can’t help but agree, I’m also glad you saved me,” Galen whispered, affectionately. “You are my hero.”

 While the rest of the galaxy seemed to be on the verge of something else, Will and Galen were in their tiny bubble, and for right now that was okay with Will. He nuzzled his face against Galen’s, enjoying their moment. “Not a hero…” he reminded.

 “What else would you call a man whose actions are heroic?” Galen asked, enjoying their strange little oasis of calm on Lord Vader’s stolen ship, of all things. 

 “Just by my name,” Will shrugged. He’d always thought one day he might do good things, but after the life he’d lead, he hardly considered them important, until now. Now, the galaxy was suffering, and he couldn’t ignore the pleas of the Force. Somehow, it lead him to this moment.

“If that’s what you want,” Galen murmured, and kissed the underside of Will’s jaw, softly. “But you know what I think, regardless.” Galen was sure he would have died if Will had not sensed he was still alive, and helped him. He had a second chance, now, and he was determined to use it, for Jyn’s sake. 

 “I do know.” Will let their lips meet once against and then finally rolled Galen off, so they could dress. They didn’t have too much time before someone realized the ship docked there was Imperial and not theirs.  
  
Galen sighed, and kissed Will’s neck, softly, then handed him his clothing. “Where are we?” he finally asked.

 “Planet called Endor. Neutral territory,” Will explained, slipping on his clothing.  
  
“Much better than Eadu, in that case,” Galen said, as he slipped on his pants, and shirt, then stood, and tested his leg, it was virtually painless.

 Will searched Galen’s mind as he dressed, feeling for anything that might be hidden pain, but he found nothing. Good. He slipped his boots on. “Never been here, not sure what to expect.”

 “I suppose we’ll find out,” Galen said, as he did the same with his boots, and then walked to the door. “Inhabitable?” he asked Will, over his shoulder, and waited for him.

 “Computer said it was full of green. Can’t be terrible,” Will explained. “Oxygen levels are great.”  
  
Galen nodded, and headed to the main door of the ship with Will, then pressed the button to open it. The door flipped downward, slowly, to make a small ramp that touched the floor of a lush, incredibly green forest. “This is much, much better than Eadu,” he smiled, and took a deep breath of the fresh air. He’d been on the stormy, mountainous Eadu for over a decade, rarely allowed to roam outside of the station at all. This was a much needed change.   
  
Following after his lover, Will looked around, a smile brightening his face. “Much better. I’ve never seen so much green.”  
  
“Beautiful,” Galen said, softly, and took Will’s hand in his own, lacing their fingers as they stepped out, into the woods. “It looks like paradise,” he mused, and examined a tree, with a scientist’s attention to detail, running his fingers over the bark.

 “It said there is life here, people too, not sure where.” Will squeezed Galen’s hand, walking through the quiet woods.

 “Hopefully people who want nothing to do with the Empire,” Galen murmured as they walked. “If we did not need to contact the rebellion as soon as possible, this would be a beautiful place to end up.”

 “We need to find a settlement of some kind and hope they have communications we can borrow,” Will agreed, not wanting to use the one on the ship, incase they got followed.

 “That may be easier said than done,” Galen frowned. Using the communication on the ship would be tantamount to broadcasting their location to the Empire, it was simply not possible. “It may be easier to take parts from the ship and make our own crude communications system without being traced to an Imperial craft.”

 “I’ll see what I can do, should we not find anyone else,” Will replied, conceding.

 “I’m sure that together, we can manage something,” Galen said, and stopped walking when he heard the bushes move behind them. He stopped and turned, watching the spot. “Did you hear…”

 “Rustling,” Will murmured, quietly, just now realizing they weren’t armed.

 Galen nodded, and readied himself as the rustling stopped, and a small, furry creature burst out at them, holding a spear in one hand as it chattered in a language Galen did not understand.

 Will only caught feelings from creature. “He’s… hungry. He might want to… eat us.”

The little creature thrust the stick at them, menacingly, and Galen put his hands up to show the creature he was not about to fight him. “Do we have any food on the ship? If we give him something he may be less likely to spear us on a full stomach…”   
  
The creature growled, low and as threateningly as he could manage.

 “Rations,” Will said, and walking backwards a few paces, gesturing to the ship at the small, furry creature.  
  
“I hope that will be enough to placate him,” Galen said, and stood at the door of the ship, hands still up. “If you go in, I’ll act as … hostage,” he said. After being held captive by the Empire for years, the little furry creature was hardly terrifying.

 Will nodded and slipped up the ramp, coming back with an arm full of wrapped rations. It wasn’t much, but it was all there was on a ship meant for a man who likely didn’t eat anyway. Will dropped them to the ground at the bear like creatures feet, and then opened one to show him it was food.

 The little bear stopped, and sniffed at the packages, then crouched and picked one up, confused. Galen moved closer, and the creature jibbered at him again, spear toward him.   
  
“Food, it’s food,” Galen said, gently, and knelt to unwrap one. The creature smelled it in his hand, and it’s eyes widened, then the furry thing shoved the rations into his mouth, and hummed, clearly enjoying the taste of the new item.

 “Glad he likes them, I’m not very fond,” Will chuckled, watching the creature open another one and eat it, too.”  
  
“He must be hungry,” Galen agreed as the little creature gathered up the packets in his arms, and dropped one. Galen picked it up for him, and set it on the top of the pile, which started the little bear, but he didn’t snarl this time. “These are yours,” he said, graciously, and stepped back, which made the furry thing tilt his head at him, and look between him and Will before he ran off into the forest again, with his treasure. “If he wants more, we may have a problem,” Galen sighed.

 “Little bit, unless we find an outpost here,” Will said with a little sigh, looking around. “I’ll try to rewire  communications for now and we can go looking later.”  
  
“I can help with that,” Galen offered, and headed back into the ship to try and find a tool box with which to dismantle the console of the ship. “Between the two of us, we should be able to cobble something functional together, hopefully the right parties pick up the signal.” If the wrong parties picked up the signal, they were in trouble.

 “Hopefully. If they aren’t too busy blowing up the Death Star,” Will said with a little smirk, and got to work, taking the panel apart, and rewiring. 

 Galen chuckled at that, and thought of Jyn, with pride, and a hard ache in his chest. “One can only hope.” 

 They worked together, and finally a few hours in, they managed to get a signal out, and a message

 Now they just had to wait.

 Galen looked toward the door at the sound of a noise outside, a rapping at the metal door. “I think our furry friend is back.”

 Will raised a brow, a bit of grease on his face, and went to the ramp door and opened it.

 The furry creature from before was there, and put down a wooden bowl at the end of the ramp filled with some kind of fruit. He still held his spear, suspicious, but willing to trade. 

 “Oh. he brought a trade,” Will said, looking at the fresh fruit. “Grab more of the rations, Galen?”

 Galen managed to find more rations, and gave them to the ewok, who sniffed one, and ran off into the forest again. “Well, that’s better than being eaten,” Galen said with a sigh.

 “That’s for sure.” Will picked up the bowl of fruit and looked at one of them. “I’m hoping these are edible.”

 Galen reached for a brilliant purple fruit, and split it open to reveal jewel-like seeds inside. He tried one, and nodded, “most toxic things are not sweet, if I die, we know it wasn’t edible,” he said, pragmatically, and headed back to their communicator to see if anyone had heard their message.

 Will set the bowl down and took one himself, and cracked it open. He sat down with Galen and popped a few seeds into his mouth with a hum. “We’ll die together if that’s the case.”

 “Romantic,” Galen said with a little smile, and rested his hand on Will’s back, then sent the message out again, and hoped.

 Nothing came back, yet, at least. Will leaned in against Galen’s hand and popped a few more fruit seeds into his mouth. “I didn’t save you just to lose you to poisonous seeds.”

 Galen ate a few more seeds, enjoying the strange, sweet taste and relaxed when he heard rain on the roof of the ship, a soothing, familiar sound. “I’d be disappointed for your sake,” Galen said, fondly, and kissed Will’s neck.

 “Very,” Will laughed, brows raised toward the sound. “Didn’t we just get away from the rain?”  
  
“It seems to have followed us here,” Galen sighed, with a look toward the roof. “We’ll have to stay inside…”

 “A shame, whatever will we get up to?” Will asked, teasingly.  
  
When Will teased, his eyes sparkled, like starlight was trapped in them, and Galen couldn’t look away. “I’m sure we’ll come up with something,” he murmured, and leaned in for a slow, hot kiss. 

 Will responded by kissing Galen harder, one hand going to his hair to grip tightly, the other on his thigh, inching up higher and higher as their tongues wound together, sharing the taste of the sweet fruit.  
  
Galen moaned, softly, and parted his lips wider as they kissed, losing himself in the taste and feeling of Will’s mouth under his own. His hands wandered down Will’s back, to his hips, and Galen climbed into his lap.

 “Galen,” Will groaned as he held Galen by the hips, fingers digging in tight there he tugged Galen’s bottom lip with his teeth.

 “We have nothing but time, now,” Galen moaned, and straddled Will’s lap.


End file.
